Roses and Thorns
by Cat2000
Summary: Trouble begins with the arrival of an old flame of Dustin's and the appearance of some new Power Rangers (Rating for possible content in later chapters)
1. Chapter One

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter One**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Summary:** Trouble begins with the arrival of an old flame of Dustin's and the appearance of some new Power Rangers 

**Author's Note:** Ok... I'm _hoping_ that this won't turn into a Mary Sue fic, but that means that I'm relying on readers to tell me if it _does_ sound Mary Sue-ish 

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_Drifting. Drifting._

_She was drifting through unconsciousness. Memories washed through her mind. Or perhaps they were happening at this precise moment. Or maybe they hadn't happened at all, and she was still in the hospital. Or maybe she was finally dead._

_Voices... There were voices outside. But they didn't hold any interest to her, though she knew that what they were saying was important._

_"You can either stay here with _her_, or you can come with me, Faye!"_

_"You're giving me an ultimatum, David? That's not like you."_

_"I don't care. I am _not _going to stay with her any longer!"_

_"This is your responsibility. Use it wisely."_

_"How could you do this to me?"_

_"Run!"_

_"But..."_

_"You can't do anything to help us now! Find others from other Ninja schools. If you don't leave now, you will be captured as well! You _cannot_ allow that to happen."_

_"Do not worry about us. We will be fine."_

_"Cally, how could you be so _stupid_?! You almost died then!"_

_She heard herself answer, "I don't want to live anymore. Not after how I treated him..."_

_"You made _one_ mistake, Cal! Admittedly, it was a big one... But that doesn't mean that it can't be forgiven. Right, David?"_

_"I..."_

_"You need to pay more attention to training."_

_"Wow, Cally. Guess your gymnastics club really paid off."_

_"Yeah, that shows you, David. Weren't you the one who told her that going to gymnastics was a really bad idea?"_

_"I... really like you, Cally. No, that's not right. I _love_ you. But I can't deal with what you did. I can't be with you. And I don't think I particularly want to see you again. Ever. It hurts too much."_

_"Dustin, I..."_

_"Cally, nothing you say could make up for what you did." A pause, then a hopeful question. "_Do_ you have a good reason?"_

_Lowered gaze, and a whispered reply, "No, Dustin. I don't."_

_"That's it! I'm leaving. Stay with her if you want, Faye. I want nothing more to do with _either_ of you!"_

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Lila walked into Storm Chargers, inwardly making a slight face. She really _didn't_ like bikes. Unfortunately, her younger brother _did_. He didn't actually have a helmet, though. But his birthday was coming up soon, and Lila was hoping to get him a good helmet as she now had enough money saved up for one. 

Lila drifted over to the helmets, her gaze flickering over the three males standing at the counter without much interest. They were probably working here. Not that she could see them doing much work at the moment. Then again, the shop wasn't all _that_ busy. She started looking through the helmets, inwardly cursing, yet again, the fact that she hadn't managed to get the measurements for her brother's head. He'd been suspicious when she had tried, and she could forget trying it when he was asleep. Peter had so much energy that Lila was sure he never actually slept. 

"She doesn't look like she'd be interested in riding," Hunter confided to Dustin and Blake as he watched the redhead look through the helmets. 

"Well, like, maybe she's only just got _into_ riding?" Dustin suggested. 

Hunter and Blake both stared at Dustin. "Um, ok," Blake said slowly. His gaze returned to the girl. "Maybe one of us should go and see if she needs any help?" he suggested. 

"Or, we could just wait for Kelly to come back in," Dustin said. "After all, she's female." 

Hunter rolled his eyes, and walked over to the girl. "Hi, can I help you?" he asked. 

The girl looked up, and Hunter found himself looking into brown eyes set in a pale face with finely chiselled features. She was pretty, but not exceptionally so. Hunter noticed the fact that she bit her nails. 

"Oh, hello," the girl smiled. "Actually, maybe you _can_ help me. I'm looking for a helmet for my younger brother. He's gotten really into riding bikes, but he hasn't got a helmet yet." 

Hunter blinked. _Whoa, too much information,_ he thought to himself. _I didn't really need to know all of that._ Out loud, Hunter asked, "Do you know what size his head is?" 

The girl shook her head. "I couldn't get near enough to him to measure his head without him getting suspicious," she explained. "See, it's his birthday soon, and I don't want him to guess what I'm going to get him..." Her voice trailed off as she saw Hunter's eyes begin to glaze over. _Oh, great. I'm babbling again._

"Does he already have a bike?" Hunter asked, wondering if it would have been a good idea to wait for Kelly to deal with this girl. 

Lila nodded. 

"Ok, so you'll need to get a helmet that'll go with his bike," Hunter said slowly. "But you have to get one that looks 'cool', otherwise he'll hate it." 

"Um..." Lila looked slightly panicked. "I don't know much about bikes," she admitted. 

Hunter put his head on one side, watching Lila thoughtfully. _I'm going to regret this,_ he realised with an inward sigh even as he asked, "Well, my brother and I tend to go on race tracks a lot... If you want, why don't you bring your brother down, say, tomorrow afternoon?" 

"Oh, ok," Lila smiled. She held out a hand. "My name's Lila." 

Hunter lightly shook her hand. "I'm Hunter," he replied. "So, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, then? At the race track? You know where that is, right?" It was an obvious dismissal. 

Lila nodded. _So much for a good first impression,_ she thought. 

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Cally jerked upright, her head slamming against the wall of the cave. "Ow," she muttered. 

"Hey, you ok?" 

Cally's vision cleared enough so that she could see Faye kneeling beside her, a concerned look on her face. "I'm fine," Cally muttered, more worried about it being embarrassing than about being seriously hurt. 

Faye frowned. "You're not just saying that, are you?" she wanted to know. 

_Trust Faye to ask something like that,_ Cally groaned. _Then again... I haven't really been acting myself lately._ "I'm not just saying that," she attempted to reassure Faye. "I really _am_ ok." 

Faye looked away. "Good," she mumbled. "I don't want to have to morph to stop you from trying to kill yourself..." She fell silent as she remembered that - breaking into the bathroom, and finding Cally lying on the floor with blood on her wrists. _Thank goodness for accelerated healing,_ she thought. Cally had nearly died then. 

"Faye, what's wrong with me?" Cally asked in a low voice. 

"Nothing," Faye replied with a slight frown. "You're depressed, Cally. It's not really your fault. Depression is just like a disease. You need to keep yourself from succumbing to it." 

"I don't think I'll _ever_ be happy again," Cally mumbled, looking down. 

Faye said nothing. There wasn't a lot she _could_ say. She could only be there for Cally and try to help her recover from the depression. No matter if Cally had been a complete idiot in the events before then. 

Cally glanced around. "Where's David?" she wanted to know. 

"He left." Faye avoided meeting Cally's gaze. 

Cally's eyes widened. "You mean... I _didn't_ just dream it? He really gave you an ultimatum?" 

Faye nodded. 

"You should have... gone with him," Cally told Faye. 

Faye shook her head quickly. "No, I couldn't have," she replied. "You're my best friend, Cally. _Nothing_ is going to change that." 

Cally looked down. "I never wanted you two to split up," she muttered. "Especially not because of me." 

"Hey." Faye tried to smile, but it was a pretty poor attempt. "I'm sure he'll be all right, Cal. He just needs time to think. That's all." 

Cally said nothing, but she was thinking, _But what if it _isn't_ all?_

"Anyway, I think I know a way to help you," Faye added. 

Cally looked up. "How?" she demanded. 

Faye took a deep breath. Holding Cally's eyes with her own, she said simply, "We go back." 

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Read and review, please! Also, tell me if it sounds Mary Sue-ish... I can't change it if I don't know


	2. Chapter Two

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Two**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Replies to Reviews:**

**Jorgitosbabe:** -Impressed- Wow, you got that review up fast. I don't think it was even up on my url . Thanks for reviewing 

**CamFan4Ever:** Thanks for reviewing . A Mary Sue is a perfect character, liked by everyone in the story, has loads of special abilities, can't do anything wrong, etc. Type Mary Sue into a search engine (especially Google) and you'll get loads of examples up 

**Author's Note:** I have actually put the original characters I created through a Power Rangers Ninja Storm Mary Sue Litmus test, and they've all come up as unlikely to be Mary Sues. Which is a good thing 

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"Hey, bro, can I talk to you for a moment?" 

Hunter glanced up, and saw Blake hovering in the doorway of his room. "Sure," he said, waving his brother inside. 

Blake came in, and sat down on the bed next to Hunter. 

"What's the problem?" Hunter wanted to know. 

Blake took a deep breath. "I want to ask Tori out on a date," he explained. "A _proper_ date. But I don't know how to go about asking it. Should I just come straight out with it, or lead up to asking it, or what?" 

Hunter blinked. "Why don't you just ask her straight out?" he suggested. His expression changed to one of concern as he saw the look on his brother's face. "Blake, what's wrong?" 

Blake hesitated, then said, all in one big rush with the words merged together so that Hunter couldn't understand him, "I'mworriedthatthedatewillbeadisasterandthatToriwillhatemeandneverwanttogooutonadatewithmeagainbecauseshehadsuchabadtime." 

Hunter blinked. "Could you repeat that, bro?" he asked. "I couldn't understand a word of what you just said." 

"Sorry," Blake mumbled. "What I actually said was I'm worried that the date will be a disaster and that Tori will hate me and never want to go out on a date with me again because she had such a bad time." 

Hunter frowned a little at that. "Blake, even if your first date _is_ a disaster, Tori won't hate you," he told his brother. "You two like each other too much." 

"But what if I make a complete fool of myself?" Blake demanded. 

"Blake, you've been hanging around with Tori for ages," Hunter said. "You always try and spar together, you always work together, you always try and train together..." 

"Ok, ok, I get the picture!" Blake interrupted, laughing a little. He looked steadily at Hunter. "Thanks bro," he said softly, sincerely. 

"No problem." Hunter smiled at Blake. "Just ask her out, and I'm sure she'll say yes. You two are practically dating anyway. All you'll be doing is making it official." 

Blake nodded slowly. Then, he asked, "That girl you were talking to earlier today? What did you think of her?" 

Hunter blinked, thinking back to Lila. "She seemed... all right," he replied slowly. "She talked a little too much, though. She seemed worried about getting a good helmet for her brother's birthday, so I told her to bring him down to the race track tomorrow afternoon so that he could watch us. Why do you ask?" 

"I just think that there's something... strange about her," Blake explained. 

Hunter blinked. "Strange how?" he wanted to know. "She seemed perfectly fine to me, if a little annoying." 

_I hate to bring this up again,_ Blake thought to himself. _But I really have no other choice._ He looked steadily at his brother as he brought up memories that would be harsh for Hunter. "Bro, do you remember when you were hit by Lothor's beam?" 

Hunter flinched, remembering that all too well. Afterwards, he had felt so guilty and ashamed, not worthy to be called Blake's brother. He had started avoiding the navy thunder ranger as much as possible. He had spent a lot more time at the race track and at training in an attempt to vent his frustration. 

Blake had gotten tired of it eventually, though. He had come to the race track one day, and, as soon as Hunter had finished riding, had said, quite simply, "We need to talk." 

Hunter had started apologising immediately, but Blake wasn't having any of it. After a moment of just looking into his brother's eyes, he had then reached out and hugged Hunter tightly while the crimson thunder ranger had cried, reassuring him that he was forgiven, and telling him over and over again that he knew that it wasn't his fault and that he still loved him. 

Now, though, Blake had to drag up Hunter's bad memories again, and he hated himself for doing it. 

Slowly, Hunter nodded, his eyes wary. 

"From what I saw of her, this girl was acting a little like _you_ were," Blake explained slowly. "Like she wasn't acting like she usually does, or something like that." 

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked. 

"I mean that you have to be very careful around her," Blake explained. He looked steadily into his brother's eyes. "I think you have to watch out for her. I don't like her, Hunter. She seems... wrong, somehow." 

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"Lila, we're going to be late! Lila!" 

Lila grumbled a little, and turned over onto her bed, pulling her covers closer around her. "Go 'way," she grumbled. 

"Lila, we have things that we need to do!" the voice snapped. 

Lila ignored her brother's voice. Maybe if she was quiet for long enough, he would think that she had gone back to sleep and would leave her alone. 

No such luck. The blanket was pulled off Lila, leaving her legs cold. 

Lila jerked upright in her bed, glaring at Peter. "I don't want to wake up!" she snapped. 

Peter raised his eyebrows. "But you're already awake," he pointed out. 

"You know what I mean!" Lila snapped, feeling grouchy. She all but fell off her bed, grabbed a hairbrush, and raked it through her hair, wincing a little as it pulled at the tangles. Her eyes almost watered at the pain. Why was it that her hair was always such a mess whenever she woke up in the mornings?! 

"I should get this cut," Lila muttered. 

"And then you'd probably regret it," Peter replied. He walked over to Lila's wardrobe, and opened it. "Now, what are you going to wear today?" he asked. 

"Give me a chance to have a shower first, at least!" Lila said sharply. "You are such a control freak, Peter." 

"_Someone_ has to keep you in line," Peter shrugged, pulling out a metallic silver top from Lila's wardrobe and holding it up for his sister to see. "How about wearing this and jeans?" 

"Too flashy," Lila replied. She shot her brother a sharp look. "Why should I want to dress up anyway?" she demanded. 

Peter grinned wickedly. "Don't you want to impress that guy you met yesterday? What was his name again? Stalker?" 

Peter ducked as Lila threw a book at his head. He shook his head as it hit the wall behind him. "Gonna have to do better than that, Lila. I'm still too quick for you." 

Lila pointed to her bedroom door. "Out!" she ordered. 

Peter gave a mocking almost-bow, and left the room. "I'll have breakfast ready in ten minutes," he called over his shoulder. 

This time, the book only just missed his head. 

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"Hey, Dustin, what'cha doing?" 

Dustin glanced up at Tori. "Um, that's kind of obvious, Tor," he replied, gesturing towards the bike he was working on. 

Tori shrugged. "Hey, you seen Blake?" she asked. 

"He's probably out back with Hunter," Dustin answered. "Or, at least, he was the last time I looked." 

"And how long ago was that?" Tori teased. 

Dustin thought for a moment. "Maybe an hour or so ago," he replied. 

Tori glanced towards the shop door. "Hey, it looks like there's a couple of customers here," she said. 

"Oh, who?" Dustin stood up, and then went pale, his eyes going extremely wide. 

Tori shot Dustin a surprised glance. "What is it?" she wanted to know. 

"Faye and Cally are there," Dustin replied, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion. 

Tori's eyes narrowed. "Cally, the one who two-timed you?" 

Dustin nodded slowly. "I thought she left," he muttered, staring at the brunette and the blonde. 

Tori touched his arm sympathetically. "You want me to go and get Hunter or Blake to deal with them?" she questioned. "You don't have to see them if you don't want to." 

Dustin shook his head. "I'd have to see them at some point anyway," he said. Taking a deep breath, he slowly made his way towards the two teenagers. 

Neither of them appeared to notice his presence at first. They were talking animatedly, their eyes on each other's faces, though Cally's eyes looked rather dark. She was also wearing a top with quite long sleeves, which was odd because the weather was quite warm. 

"Can I help either of you?" Dustin asked shortly, worried that if he said too much, he would end up yelling at Cally. How _dared_ she come back here after what she had done? 

But Dustin merely shifted his weight slightly from one foot to the other and tried to keep his thoughts from showing on his face. Kelly definitely wouldn't thank him for yelling at a customer, no matter what she had done to him. 

Faye's expression had brightened when she saw Dustin, but now she looked a little worried. She glanced from Dustin to Cally and back again before taking a slight step to put herself almost between the two. 

Dustin remembered that Faye had always tried to be the peacemaker. She had always tried to diffuse an argument with a softly spoken word or suggestion. Of course, that meant that Faye also tended to back away from confrontations rather than risk getting involved in any type of fight or argument. 

"Dustin..." Cally began. Her voice trailed off, and she looked down. _I don't have the words to try and make things better. I've hurt him too much._

Dustin glanced over his shoulder at Tori for help. How was he supposed to deal with something like this? How was he supposed to deal with Cally returning? She'd just end up ripping his heart apart again. 

However, when Tori started to come over, Dustin waved her back again. This was something that he had to deal with alone. 

Dustin turned back to Faye and Cally, and found Cally's eyes fastened on his face. 

"Maybe we shouldn't do this here?" Faye suggested, her voice soft. "It might be a good idea to go somewhere else to talk." 

Dustin turned his head to glare at Faye, and the blonde gave a soft squeak, taking a slight step back. "_Here_ is as good a place as any to talk," Dustin replied, his tone level. His gaze returned to Cally's face. She hadn't spoken at all yet, and the yellow wind ranger wondered if the brunette actually had anything to say to him at all. 

Apparently, she did. Cally took a deep breath, and said, quite simply, "Dustin, I'm _so_ sorry for what I did to you. I have no excuse for it. I'd do _anything_ to take back what happened. But I know that sorry doesn't cut it." 

Dustin looked at Cally for a long moment. "It doesn't," he said finally, his voice dangerously calm. "Not at all..." 

Faye shifted slightly. "Dustin..." she began. 

Get out," Dustin told Cally shortly. "If you're not going to buy anything here, just get out." 

Faye looked like she wanted to say something else, but Cally took her arm, and led her out of the shop without a backwards glance. 

Tori came over to Dustin. "Hey, are you all right?" she asked softly. 

Dustin turned to Tori, and gave her a weak attempt at a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "I _had_ to do that." But tears still shimmered in his eyes, threatening to fall. 

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Lila came downstairs to find Peter sitting at the table with a plate of pancakes in the middle, reading the newspaper. 

Peter glanced over the top of his newspaper at Lila, and grinned as he saw what she was wearing. "So you decided to take my suggestion after all?" 

Lila shrugged. Reaching over, she tweaked the newspaper out of Peter's hands, and slipped her reading glasses on. 

"Hey!" Peter protested. 

Ignoring her twin, Lila sat down. Snagging a pancake from the pile, she started scanning the main headlines. 

"There's nothing really interesting in there," Peter commented. "Just the usual stuff." 

Lila raised her eyebrows. "Like stuff about the so-called Power Rangers?" she asked, turning the newspaper around and gesturing towards the headline she was referring to. 

Peter met Lila's eyes, and his lips curled upwards into a smile. "Oh, _that's_ interesting," he admitted. "But it doesn't really tell us a lot. Like, how to meet them." 

Lila flashed him a smile. "I'm sure we'll be able to sooner or later," she replied. 

"Yeah, sooner or later," Peter echoed. He looked levelly at his sister. "Just don't forget what we're really here for, ok?" 

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Read and review, please! 

Ok... I admit that I kind of made Dustin act a little out of character. But I think that it works for this fic


	3. Chapter Three

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Three**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**CamFan4Ever:** Which she don't you think is a Mary Sue? There are... -counts on fingers 'Faye, Cally, Lila...'- three of them, plus two males. Cos there's a male equivalent of a Mary Sue as well. 

I'm glad you like it so far. -Pleased- (I'd put a smiley in, but, for some reason, they won't upload... Grr). This is actually quite difficult to write... -Says to self- Ignore the temptation to make them perfect, give them flaws, make any relationships with canon characters realistic, make canon characters act realistically... There's too many things to remember! Wah! 

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Tori walked into the storeroom of Storm Chargers in time to see Hunter and Blake mock wrestling with an empty cardboard box. The two Thunder Rangers seemed to be having fun, and were completely oblivious to everything else, even the fact that they were actually supposed to be working.__

_And if they _had_ been working out in the shop like they were _supposed_ to, they probably would have been able to stop Dustin from having to see Cally again,_ Tori thought to herself, putting her hands on her hips. She couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face, though. Hunter and Blake having fun together tended to make most of the other Rangers happy... Except maybe for Cam. 

The Bradley brothers _still_ hadn't noticed Tori's presence, so the blue wind ranger cleared her throat to get their attention. 

Immediately, Hunter and Blake stopped mock wrestling, and both looked guilty. Then, when they saw who it was, Hunter relaxed, though Blake still looked a little embarrassed. 

"Hey, what's up?" Hunter asked Tori brightly. 

"A customer just came into the shop," Tori replied, taking a quick look around the storeroom. To her surprise, she saw that everything seemed to be in order. Apparently, the wrestling match hadn't caused any breakage's or a huge amount of mess. 

Hunter blinked. "Um, so what?" he asked. "Dustin can deal with them, can't he? Blake and I are clearing up in here... Well, we're _supposed_ to be." 

Tori shot a quick glance towards Blake, who looked like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

Suddenly, Hunter's face blanched. "Oh, no," he groaned. "The customer wasn't a redhead called Lila, was it?" 

Tori blinked, and shook her head. "Um, no," she replied. "It was an old girlfriend of Dustin's." 

Both Hunter and Blake looked blank, and Tori remembered that they wouldn't actually know about Cally. She wasn't even sure that Shane did, unless Dustin had told him, and that probably wasn't very likely. 

Hunter was the first one to speak. "Dude, I didn't know that Dustin had an old girlfriend," he commented. 

"You wouldn't have," Tori replied. "Dustin won't speak about her at all if he can help it." 

"Why?" Blake asked. 

"I'm not sure that I should tell you," Tori answered, frowning a little. "I mean, it's not like I don't trust you guys or anything... But it's really Dustin's decision to tell, or not tell, as the case may be." 

"You might as well tell them," Dustin commented, standing in the doorway of the storeroom. His eyes were flat, the usual humour that filled them gone. Cally's sudden reappearance had shaken him. 

"Are you all right, Dustin?" Tori asked gently. 

Dustin shook his head. "Not really," he replied. He looked at Blake and Hunter. "Cally was my girlfriend from a few years back," he explained. "I really cared about her, even loved her, and I was sure that she felt the same way... But she clearly didn't." 

"What happened, dude?" Hunter asked gently. 

Dustin took a deep breath. "I found out that she was seeing someone else behind my back," he replied. "I broke up with her, and she moved soon after... But now, she's back." 

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"Hey, are you trying to see how that thing works?" Shane asked Cam, watching as the green samurai ranger studied his morpher with an intent look in his eyes. 

Cam didn't reply. Either he had decided that Shane wasn't worth talking to, or he was so caught up in studying his morpher that he honestly didn't hear a word anyone said to him. 

Shane decided that it was probably the latter. Cam might be a lot of things, but mean without a good reason wasn't one of them. 

Shane walked over to Cam, and waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey, earth to Cam? Do you read me?" 

Cam didn't even look up. 

Shane sighed, and began pacing the floor of NinjaOps, trying to make as much noise as possible. When that didn't work, he hummed really loudly.__

_I'm running out of ideas,_ Shane thought to himself as he watched Cam still working. 

Suddenly, an idea occurred to the red wind ranger, and he grinned to himself. If this didn't work, _nothing_ would. 

Shane walked over to Cam's computer, and reached a hand out towards the keyboard. 

"Don't touch that, Shane," Cam said without looking up. 

Shane grinned. "Finally back to the land of the living?" he teased. 

Cam rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Shane," he replied. "I was trying to see how this thing works." He gestured towards the morpher. 

"Well, you'd better be careful, Cam," Shane warned him. "If you take it apart a lot, then you might end up damaging it." 

"No, I won't," Cam said. 

"And why's that?" Shane wanted to know. 

"I'm smarter than you are," Cam answered. "Now, was there anything in particular you wanted, or are you just going to hang around in NinjaOps all day?" 

"_You_ should get out more, son," Sensei told Cam. "Staying indoors all day every day is not very good for you." 

"Yeah, but _you_ stay indoors all day," Shane replied. 

Sensei looked at Shane without blinking. "That is different," he said. "I must stay inside. The world is not ready for a talking guinea pig yet." 

"Sure, whatever." Shane shrugged. "Catch ya later," he called over his shoulder as he left the NinjaOps building. 

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"_I_ could have told you that Dustin wouldn't listen," Cally said to Faye. "He won't forgive me, Faye. I hurt him too much." 

Faye shrugged. "It was worth a try," she replied. "And who knows? Maybe Dustin will be able to forgive you eventually." 

"Yeah, right," Cally muttered. "And pigs might fly." 

"They _do_," Faye laughed. "In hurricanes, anyway." 

Cally made a face. "That wasn't even _remotely_ funny," she told Faye. 

The two teenagers were walking through the town. Cally had just wanted to go back to their house, but Faye had wanted to go shopping. As usual. Cally was sure that her friend was a shopaholic. The amount of times Faye wanted to just have a little look in a few shops, which then turned into a few-hours trek through town... 

"So, are you going to look at horse riding lessons and gymnastics lessons?" Faye asked Cally, listing two of Cally's most favourite things to do. 

"Probably," Cally answered. Then, she gave a soft laugh. "What are you, my mother?" 

Faye stared at Cally, but, before either of them could say anything, a sudden beeping noise went off. 

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Read and review, please! 

Ok, there_ will_ actually be action in the next chapter... But I'm too tired to write out an action-packed part tonight. I already fulfilled my goal - to write chapter five of Is Love For Real? and chapter three of this fic. 

Night!


	4. Chapter Four

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Four**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**RedFox:** If they don't realise that by now, they're never going to 

**Me:** Oh, hush! 

**CamFan4Ever:** Thankees for reviewing! -Huggles- And I'm really glad that you don't think any of my original characters are Mary Sues! -Big grin- 

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The silver silk ranger stood on the hill, her arms folded across her chest. If her face could have been seen, it would be showing boredom and a little annoyance. But the tone of her voice managed to convey those feelings quite well as she asked, "Hey, how long do we have to wait for? You said that they would come really soon!" 

The brown silk ranger came over to stand next to her. "Try and be patient," he told her. 

"Patience has _never_ been one of my strong suits," she grumbled, flexing the length of silk she was holding. "Why can't we just take out the main Power Rangers and be done with it?" she demanded. 

"Because these ones are weaker," the brown ranger explained. "It will be good practice for us before we beat the others. Besides, there are more of the main Power Rangers. We would be outnumbered." 

The silver ranger flicked one end of the silk at the brown ranger. "You're not scared, are you?" she asked, a note of humour creeping into her voice. 

The brown ranger slapped the silk away from his face. "Save it for when they get here," he ordered. "No messing around." 

"You're no fun," the silver ranger grumbled. "How are we supposed to keep in shape if you keep on refusing to train with me?" 

"You're too easy to beat," the brown ranger replied. 

"In your dreams!" the silver ranger snapped. "I beat you more times than you beat me, and you know it!" 

"As soon as this is over, I'll show you just how wrong you are," the brown ranger told her. 

"Take your best shot," the silver ranger taunted. "I bet you anything that I'll end up beating _you_ yet again!" 

"Hm, anything?" The brown ranger tilted his head to one side. "Ok, how about those trousers you've always wanted against that jacket I really liked the look of?" 

"Deal." The silver ranger moved the silk she was holding so that it was gripped firmly in her left hand, and then extended her right. 

The brown ranger shook her hand firmly. "Deal," he agreed. 

The two stood in silence for a long moment before the silver ranger asked, "Are you _sure_ that you sent that signal on the right frequency?" 

"Yeah, I'm sure," the brown ranger replied. "As long as they _are_ from the Light Ninja Academy, of course," he added. 

The silver ranger shifted her weight slightly. "But Lothor said that he had all of the ninjas from that academy," she complained. "Besides, I wasn't aware of the fact that the Light Ninja Academy even _had_ Power Ranger morphers." 

"What if the ones who are the Power Rangers had left the academy _before_ Lothor attacked it?" the brown ranger wanted to know. 

The silver ranger slowly shook her head. "But that makes no sense," she protested. "There would have been no reason to give them the Power Ranger morphers if Lothor hadn't started attacking the place." 

"Yes, but he didn't attack the Light Ninja Academy _first_," the brown ranger reminded the silver ranger. 

"But what has..." The silver ranger's voice trailed off as she realised. "Oh. Someone from one of the other academies could have warned them." 

"That's right, actually," an unfamiliar female voice said. 

The two silk rangers glanced in the direction of the voice. 

Two Power Ranger stood there - a violet and an orange one - so close to each other that they were almost touching. 

"Well, you two certainly took your time," the brown silk ranger commented. It was hard to tell what he was thinking from the tone of his voice. 

"Well, it took us a little while to work out just where that signal was coming from," the violet ranger replied. "Unfortunately, neither of us are very good when it comes to technological things." 

"Yeah," the orange ranger agreed. "If you wanted to fight us, you should have made it easier for us to find you." 

"Weren't there three of you originally?" the brown ranger asked, his tone suspiciously sweet. 

The orange ranger and the violet ranger exchanged glances. At least, that's what it _looked_ like they were doing. 

"Nope, there _are_ only two of us," the orange ranger said. 

"Oh, good," the silver ranger responded. "After all, two against two is a _much_ fairer match than _three_ against two, wouldn't you say?" 

"Scared that we'll be able to beat you?" the violet ranger goaded. 

"Oh, no," the brown ranger replied, his tone soft. "Even with three against two, _we_ would still win. Our academy has _always_ been better than the measly Light Ninja Academy. For one thing, you don't have nearly as many ninjas going there as the other academies have." 

"Do we _have_ to fight?" the orange ranger asked. "We should all be on the same side... Shouldn't we?" 

"Oh, just like a little Light Ninja," the silver ranger snarled. "Always wanting to look for a peaceful ending to any and all confrontations." 

"But violence isn't always necessary..." the orange ranger began. 

The two silk rangers fell about laughing. 

"Leave it," the violet ranger told the orange ranger. "They don't understand anything. They're ignorant."__

_That_ sobered the two up immediately. Both straightened up, and the silver ranger snapped her length of silk. 

"Would you like to see just how ignorant we actually are?" the brown ranger asked, his tone deadly. 

The orange ranger moved back a couple of paces, but the violet ranger remained where she was. 

"Oh, are you _scared_?" the silver ranger asked with mock sweetness. "Don't worry, Sweetie. I won't be _too_ hard on you. I just want to stop you from being able to morph." She laughed. 

"Yes, don't run," the brown ranger put in. "Then again, if you _do_ run, you'll just be proving that the Light Ninjas really _are_ cowards." 

The violet ranger turned her head to look at the orange ranger. "Are you really going to let them talk like that about our academy?" she wanted to know. 

The orange ranger hesitated, and then slowly moved back to the violet ranger's side. 

The brown ranger moved his hands through the air, his own length of silk appearing in them. Then, the two silk rangers ran at the light rangers, who ran to meet them. 

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Blake stood watching Tori surf. He was actually admiring her, though he wouldn't admit that to _anyone_, not even Hunter.__

_I guess I really should ask her out sooner rather than later,_ Blake thought to himself. _But what if she says no?_ Blake _knew_ that that wasn't very likely... But he couldn't quite get rid of the nagging fear of rejection.__

_She looks lovely out there, surfing,_ Blake noted. _She looks so beautiful, so full of life... Could she _really_ care about me as much as I care about her? Could she even love me?_

Tori stopped surfing, and moved back into shallow waters. She picked up her surfboard, and walked towards Blake. 

"Hi," Blake smiled. "You look great out there, Tori." 

Tori smiled. "You really think so?" she asked, pleased. 

Blake nodded. "Yeah, definitely," he answered. _And I'm not just talking about her surfing, either._

"So... I was talking to Hunter earlier," Tori commented. "He said that you had something that you wanted to ask me?" 

Blake blinked, and made a mental note to himself to kill his brother later. There was no way he could get out of this one.__

_Of course, that was probably what Hunter had in mind when he told her that,_ Blake realised. He looked down, suddenly finding it hard to meet Tori's gaze. 

"Blake, are you all right?" Tori asked, clearly concerned. 

Blake stopped walking, and turned to look deep into Tori's eyes. It was now or never, he knew. 

It had to be now. 

Blake took a deep breath. "Tori, will you go out on a date with me?" he asked. 

Tori looked at Blake, and then broke into a smile. "Of course I will," she answered, hugging him. "When do you want to go, and what do you want to do?" 

Blake met her gaze. "Anything's fine, as long as it's with you," he replied. 

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The two light rangers weren't doing very well again the silk rangers. 

Because the silk was material, it was easier to move and get in the guards. And it _burned_. 

The violet ranger initially started off fighting against the brown ranger, and the silver ranger against the orange ranger, but neither were having much luck. The silk rangers were easily getting through their guards. 

"SWITCH!" the orange ranger yelled at the violet ranger. 

Quick as a flash, the violet ranger executed a backwards flip. She passed the orange ranger in midair, and they switched opponents. 

"Oh, this'll be _easy_," the silver ranger purred. 

"No, it won't," the violet ranger replied grimly, attacking the other with her staff. 

The silver ranger took a few blows before she snapped her length of silk and wrapped it around the violet ranger's neck. She then threw the end into one of the trees, where it wrapped around one of the branches, raising the violet ranger into the air and causing her to start choking. 

The orange ranger froze in horror as she saw her friend being slowly strangled before her eyes. "DEMORPH!" she yelled. 

The violet ranger was seeing black spots before her eyes. She couldn't concentrate. How could she demorph? Her legs kicked helplessly at the air, her fingers scrabbling uselessly at the silk wrapped around her throat. 

The silver ranger walked over to help the brown ranger against the orange ranger, leaving her length of silk slowly strangling the violet ranger. 

Suddenly, the orange ranger raced backwards. Her fingers reached for her morpher, and she pressed a few buttons, then yelled into it, "HELP!" 

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Read and review, please!


	5. Chapter Five

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Five**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**CamFan4Ever** and **Jorgitosbabe:** I'm glad you liked the previous chapter . I actually very nearly deleted this whole fic. I was feeling pretty depressed the other day. I guess it was good that I decided to wait for a little while before I did 

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Cam was doing some work on the computer when his morpher started going off. 

Cam was still new to actually being a Power Ranger, so the fact that his morpher was going off didn't actually register until his father said, "Cam, aren't you going to see who wants you?" 

"Oh, right," Cam said. He picked up his morpher from where it was lying on the table, having left it there when he was been trying to figure out how it worked. "Cam here. What's the problem?" 

The shout that echoed from his morpher almost deafened the green samurai ranger. "HELP!" 

Cam blinked. "Tori?" He looked at his father. "Dad, was that Tori?" 

"What do _you_ think?" the Sensei asked. 

Cam hesitated for a moment. Then, "I don't think that it _is_ Tori," he admitted. "It doesn't _sound_ like Tori... But, dad, Tori's the only female Power Ranger around. And I could swear that that voice was definitely female. So, it _had_ to have been Tori." 

"Not necessarily," Sensei replied. "There _are_ other Ninja Academies which Lothor has captured, after all." 

"But I thought that Lothor captured _everyone_ from those," Cam said slowly. "How could one have escaped? And what if there's more than one? Father, what if it's a trap? What if it's the same thing that happened with Hunter and Blake?" 

Sensei looked steadily at his son. "That I cannot tell you," he answered. "You will have to decide for yourself whether it is likely to be a trap. And, if you don't think that it _is_, should you go and help this person?" 

Cam opened his mouth to say something, but was prevented from speaking by the new voice that came from his morpher. 

"Hey, did you guys hear that?" Shane's voice asked. 

"I did," Cam replied. He heard the others say that they had, too. 

"What should we do?" Shane asked. "Cam, can you get a fix on the location where that voice came from?" 

"Sure," Cam said, already getting to work on it. It shouldn't be _that_ difficult to find the location, after all. If there _were_ some new Power Rangers around, he just had to lock onto where the heat readings were coming from. 

"No one's on the edge of the forest outside town, are they?" Cam wanted to know. 

A chorus of no's came from the other Power Rangers. 

"Ok, then that means that the call probably came from there," Cam commented. "Should we go and check it out?" 

"I think that we should," Tori responded. "Whoever it was called us for help. It doesn't _seem_ like a trap... And we _can't_ just ignore a cry for help." 

"I agree with Tori," Blake said.__

_There's a surprise,_ Cam thought. 

"Does everyone else agree?" Shane asked. 

"I do," Hunter said. "As long as we get it wrapped up before this afternoon. I promised that I'd be at the race track then." 

"I don't know why," Dustin commented. "You don't even really like the girl, Hunter." Then, before Hunter could say anything to that, he added, "I'm in as well. Better activate CyberCam, Cam. We might need the Zords." 

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The brown ranger laughed a little as the orange ranger lowered her hand, breathing heavily in short gasps. "Do you _really_ think that the others will come to your rescue?" he wanted to know. 

The orange ranger turned her head to where the violet ranger was hanging from the tree, her struggles growing weaker and weaker. Her Power Ranger abilities weakened the effects of the strangulation, but they couldn't hold out forever. The orange ranger could hear her friend choking quite badly. She wanted to go and help her, but the two silk rangers were blocking her way. 

The orange ranger looked back at the silk rangers. "Yes, I do," she replied calmly. 

"You are a fool," the silver ranger said bluntly. "Why not join with us?" She took a step forward to lay a gloved hand on the orange ranger's shoulder. "We could do so many things together..." 

The orange ranger shook off the silver ranger's hand. "Like destroy the other Power Rangers?" she demanded. "And what would the price be of me joining you? My friend's life?" 

"Oh, of course," the silver ranger responded coolly. "Your friend _would_ be cut down as soon as you agree." 

The orange ranger hesitated, glancing towards her friend. The last thing she wanted to do was join these two... But how could she condemn her friend to almost certain death?__

_And I don't have the energy to carry on fighting them for much longer,_ the orange ranger knew. _Especially not with _two_ of them..._

"You know, two against one isn't exactly fair odds," a voice commented from behind the orange ranger. 

The orange ranger half-turned, and saw six Power Rangers behind her - red, blue, yellow, crimson, navy, and green. She almost wept with relief. Clearly, the others had decided to respond to her plea for help. 

"Well, well," the brown ranger commented, drawing the orange ranger's attention again. "Now it's _seven_ against _two_... And I suppose those odds are much better?" 

"Well, dude, it's, like, not fair to gang up on one person," Dustin said. 

The orange ranger turned towards the violet ranger. The silk rangers were still blocking her way. "Get out of my way!" she ordered. 

"Forget it," the silver ranger told her. "Your friend can't last out much longer. And you can't get to her." 

"You know, I thought that we were quite difficult to kill even when we were in our Ranger forms," Tori commented, watching the violet ranger as her gloved hands scrabbled at something wrapped around her neck. The blue wind ranger narrowed her eyes under her helmet, trying to see what was wrapped around the violet ranger's throat. _A rope? No... It's a length of silk..._

"It's the silk," the orange ranger explained. "Those two are from the Silk Ninja Academy." 

"The Silk Ninja Academy?" Cam was puzzled. His father would probably know about that particular academy, and why two of its members were attempting to kill another Power Ranger. Attempting to and succeeding by the looks of it. The violet ranger was finally beginning to go limp. Her struggles were extremely weak.__

_She can't last out much longer,_ Cam realised. _We_ have_ to get past these two silk rangers, otherwise she'll die._

Shane apparently had the same idea. As Cam watched, the red wind ranger leaped at the two silk rangers. 

And an all-out brawl began. 

The two silk rangers were quite good, but the others had the advantage of larger numbers. The silk rangers were rapidly beginning to lose. 

"All right, let's bail!" the brown ranger yelled to the silver ranger. 

Both shot off at high speed. 

Wasting no time, the orange ranger ran over to her friend, and slashed the silk around her neck. The violet ranger collapsed, coughing and gasping for air. The orange ranger helped her to stand up. "You ok?" she asked worriedly. 

The violet ranger nodded. "Just... gotta get my breath back..." she managed to gasp out. Her voice sounded hoarse and scratchy. 

The orange ranger looked at the others. "Thank you for coming," she said sincerely. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't turned up when you did." 

"No problem," Dustin said. 

"You should really get her to drink some water," Cam told the orange ranger. "It will probably help her throat." 

"Thank you for the advice," the orange ranger replied. "I will do that." 

"Why don't you come to our headquarters?" Shane suggested. "You could rest up a bit there." 

The orange ranger glanced down at the violet ranger, then shook her head. "No, I don't think so," she answered. "Thank you for the offer, but we'll be fine on our own." 

"Well, ok." Shane was puzzled. Then again, he and the others weren't planning to reveal their true identities to these two, so why should they? 

"If you need to, come into the other forest," Cam explained after a moment's thought. "There's a portal there which will take you to our headquarters, should you ever feel the need to go there." 

"We'll bear that in mind," the orange ranger said. Then, she and the violet ranger left. 

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Read and review, please!


	6. Chapter Six

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Six**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Author's Note:** Ok, I apologise for this, but I revealed something in this chapter that I originally didn't plan on revealing just yet. Sorry. 

**RedFox:** Yeah, but you're not revealing _everything_ that you have planned 

**Me:** That's true, I suppose 

**Replies to reviews:**

****

**CamFan4Ever:** Well, I'm definitely not going to delete it now. -Laughs- Don't worry. I was just feeling rather miserable when I was thinking of deleting this fic 

**BlueAngel07:** Wow, a new reviewer! I'm really glad you like this 

**Jorgitosbabe:** -Is deafened- Wow, I guess that's a vote for keeping this fic? 

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Cally sat on the sofa in the house she and Faye were renting, her head in her hands. 

"Here. Drink this," Faye said, holding a glass of water out to Cally. 

Cally took it, and sipped a little, wincing as the cool liquid burned the inside of her throat. 

Faye sat on the sofa next to Cally. "Are you all right?" she asked gently. 

Cally gave her friend an odd look. "It's been a couple of hours since that fight," she answered. "I was nearly strangled, not to mention burned... I'd say that I'm not really all right." 

"Ok, it _was_ a bit of a silly question," Faye admitted, stretching a little. "It felt _really_ weird not to have David with us. I guess I've never really thought about what would happen if David _wasn't_ with us. There's never been a need to. But it means that we can't use our ultimate weapon _or_ our megazord. That's serious, Cal. It weakens us quite badly." 

"How do you think they knew that there's supposed to be three of us?" Cally wanted to know, rubbing at her neck with a slight wince. 

"I don't know," Faye replied. She looked at her friend with concern. "Does it hurt much?" 

"Oh yeah," Cally answered. "What's _with_ that silk? How could they make it burn like that?" 

"Well, they _are_ from the Silk Ninja Academy," Faye said. "They must have been able to make it like that in some way. It's probably their main weapon." 

"You should have gone with David," Cally mumbled. 

"You know that I wouldn't do that," Faye replied. "If I _had_, then you would have ended up battling the silk rangers on your own. And probably ended up dead." 

"Not necessarily a bad thing," Cally mumbled. "Maybe it would be better if I really _was_ dead." 

Faye stared at Cally for a long moment. Then, "Don't you _dare_ even _think_ about trying to kill yourself again!" she snapped. "I almost didn't stop you in time the last time! The last thing I want is for you to end up in hospital again." 

Cally just shrugged. 

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Hunter and Blake were helping Dustin out in Storm Chargers before they were due at the track. 

"So, what do you guys think of these four new Power Rangers?" Dustin asked Hunter and Blake in a low voice. 

"Well, two are probably good," Hunter replied. "And it looks like the other two are... not so good." 

"Dude, is there, like, any way that the _silk_ rangers could be the good ones?" Dustin wanted to know. 

Blake gave Dustin an odd look. "Bro, they hung the violet ranger from a tree, and then blocked the orange ranger's way so that she couldn't get to her friend." 

"Look, all I'm saying is that we don't know _anything_ about these new Power Rangers," Dustin commented. "They could be serious enemies, for all we know. Maybe we should wait and find out what their purpose _really_ is before we risk helping either side again." 

"You know, Dustin, sometimes you can come out with really intelligent things," Blake said. 

"But _I'm_ going to go with my gut feeling," Hunter added. "And my instincts tell me that the silk rangers are the bad guys." 

"Well, dude, Tori said pretty much the same thing about you guys," Dustin responded. "You know, when you guys were trying to kill us for, like, the thousandth time." 

The yellow wind ranger immediately wished that he hadn't said anything as the two thunder rangers flinched at his words. _Great, Dustin,_ he thought to himself. _Way to go. Bring up painful memories, why don't you?_

"Yeah, but you know that that wasn't our fault, right?" Hunter asked carefully, his eyes showing his worry. _If Dustin doesn't feel he can trust us, how can we work together?_

"I know," Dustin said quickly. "I was just using you two to illustrate my point. After all, you guys originally _pretended_ to be my friends." 

"We're not pretending _now_, though," Blake pointed out. 

"I _do_ know that!" Dustin insisted. "I'm not saying that I don't trust you guys or anything like that. I just mean that it's easy to get taken in by people." 

Blake grinned, and punched Dustin lightly on the shoulder. "You mean it's easy for _you_ to get taken in by people." 

Dustin returned the grin. Then, "Hey, aren't you guys supposed to be down at the race track?" 

Hunter nodded. "Would you like to come with us?" he asked. 

"Oh, man, I wish I could," Dustin answered. "But I promised Kelly I'd help her this afternoon as you two are going to be out." 

"Sure, no worries," Hunter replied, clasping Dustin's hand. Then, he and Blake left. 

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As he and Blake raced around the track, Hunter noticed Lila and a tall, brown-haired guy standing nearby. He guessed that that was her brother. 

Hunter stopped his bike, got off, and walked over to Lila and her brother. He took off his helmet, and flashed a smile. "Hey," he said. 

"Hey," Lila smiled. "This is my brother, Peter." 

Hunter nodded to Peter, and held out his hand to clasp the other's. "Nice to meet you." 

Peter grinned. "You were _awesome_ out there!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. 

Hunter felt Blake come up to stand next to him. His brother's presence made him feel better, and he returned Peter's grin. "Your sister said you're quite a rider yourself," he commented. 

Peter shrugged a little, shooting Lila a quick glance. "I'm kind of... limited in how much riding I can do," he replied. "Because I don't own a proper helmet."__

_Which is why Lila is getting him a helmet,_ Hunter thought to himself. He looked at Peter, considering. Then, he said, "Why don't you let me see how well you can ride?" 

Peter looked at Lila again, then at Hunter. "My bike's at home," he told the crimson thunder ranger. 

"Borrow mine," Hunter replied. "You can also use my helmet. Mind you, if you damage the bike in any way, you can fix it, or pay for it to be fixed." 

"Hm." Peter looked carefully at the bike, chewing his bottom lip, clearly considering. 

In the end, it was Lila who made up Peter's mind. She glanced at her brother, then at the bike, and said, "I bet you a pair of motor cross gloves against a new pair of shoes that you'll fall off." 

"Oh, really?" Peter flashed a quick grin at his sister, then clambered onto Hunter's bike, slipping the helmet easily onto his head.__

_Well, that answers _that_ question,_ Hunter thought to himself as he watched Peter start riding. 

"Hunter, are you _sure_ that letting him ride your bike is a good thing?" Blake asked his brother softly. 

"I'm sure that Peter appreciates it," Lila smiled. "He loves riding." 

"Well, you know what size his head is now," Hunter told Lila. "The same size as mine. The helmet I use fits him." 

Lila nodded. "This means a lot," she told Hunter. "Is there any way I can repay you?" 

At that moment, Hunter made the mistake of meeting Lila's brown eyes. He blinked as he felt himself drowning in their depths. As he felt something stir deep inside himself. From the widening of her eyes, Hunter could tell that Lila felt it as well. 

The spell was broken when Hunter felt his brother jab him in the side. He looked at Blake, who jerked his head towards Peter on the bike.__

_What just happened?_ Lila wondered. _What did I just feel? It was... odd. Like just looking at each other was the only thing holding Hunter and I up. But that's impossible._

Hunter's eyes were on Peter, but his thoughts were just as chaotic as Lila's. _It felt like we were looking into each other's souls. But why? I barely _like_ Lila. She gets on my nerves._

Peter stopped the bike, and got off. Removing the helmet, he walked over to the group. "Well, what do you think?" he asked with a grin. 

"Your turns are a little sharp," Blake answered. "And you've got too much air on your jumps." 

"But with a _lot_ of practice, you could become quite good," Hunter added. "When you get a helmet, bring your bike up here. Blake and I'll help you out." 

"Great!" Peter grinned. He shot Lila a quick glance, then said, "I'll wait for you in the van, sis." He then walked away. 

"Um, Hunter, can I talk to you?" Lila asked the crimson thunder ranger. 

"I'll just go and pack my bike away," Blake said tactfully, moving off. 

Hunter looked at Lila. "What's on your mind?" 

Lila hesitated for a long moment. "I was wondering if you'd like to, um, get a coffee or something with me at some point?" 

Hunter looked steadily at Lila, relieved that the strange feeling had gone. "You know, I'm not really looking for a girlfriend," he said finally. 

Lila gave an easy smile. "Sure," she replied. "But we can go out as just friends, right?" 

"Yeah, just friends," Hunter echoed. 

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Read and review, please! 

Um, could any reviewers please give me their opinion on the scene that just occurred between Hunter and Lila? And if you have any ideas as to what can happen between them, I'd love to hear them!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Seven**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and... 

**DarkAngel:** Cat! Everyone _knows_ that you don't own anything from _any_ Power Rangers series! You don't have to keep saying it at the beginning of each chapter! 

**RedFox:** -Glares at DarkAngel- She's just making sure! 

**Author's Note:** These chapters always look really neat on my computer screen... But I can't use justified on So it always looks poorly presented. Not fair! 

**RedFox:** I'm not sure that readers are really looking for well-presented fics... 

**DarkAngel:** But it always helps 

**DarkCat:** -Hisses at them both- 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**CamFan4Ever:** I think they might make a cute couple . Of course, that's just _my_ opinion... Others probably don't share it 

**garnetred:** Yeah, that was what I thought . Though they're not in love yet... They're in like. Hm, is it actually possible to fall in like with someone? 

**Muses:** -Shrug- 

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it 

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Lothor watched the events unfold, smiling a little as he saw the silk rangers battling the light rangers. His smile widened as the violet ranger got hung in the tree. Then, he scowled as the wind rangers and the thunder rangers turned up. 

"Is something wrong, uncle?" Kapri asked while her sister, Marah, painted her nails. 

"Those Power Rangers _always_ turn up at precisely the wrong moment!" Lothor snapped. He then glared at his two nieces. "How many times have I told you two not to sit in my chair?" he demanded. 

"Sorry." Marah and Kapri quickly got off, though Marah was still doing her nails. 

"Sir, I really don't think that using those two silk rangers is a good idea," Zurgane told Lothor. "They aren't even under your control, sir." 

"No, they're not," Lothor agreed. "But that just means that they'll fight even harder for me." 

"I don't trust them," Zurgane said bluntly. 

"That's not a problem," Lothor replied. "I don't trust _anyone_, after all. How is the new weapon doing?" 

"Easier than I had expected," Zurgane answered. "It was not _too_ difficult to turn his mind to hate and violence." 

"Good," Lothor smiled. "We'll be able to use him soon, then." 

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"Hey, bro," Blake said, appearing in the doorway of Hunter's room. "Would you mind helping me out for a moment?" 

"Sure," Hunter replied easily, getting off his bed and walking over to his brother. "What's the problem?" 

"Well, Tori and I are going out on a date tonight," Blake explained. "I'm supposed to be picking her up in about an hour or so, and I have no idea what to wear." 

Hunter blinked. "Aren't women the ones who spend hours trying to decide what to wear?" he asked. 

"And I have an hour," Blake answered. "So it won't take me _hours_ to get ready. And, besides, I want to look nice for Tori. It _is_ our first date, after all." 

"Just put on a suit or something," Hunter said. "Do you think that Tori will actually care about what you look like? She's not that shallow. She'll just want to be with you. Just dress in something that looks reasonably nice and is comfortable." 

Blake rolled his eyes, and punched his brother lightly on the shoulder. "Yeah, you can tell that you haven't been on many dates, bro," he replied with a laugh. 

_Yeah, well, I'd only like to go out on a date with _one_ woman,_ Hunter thought to himself. _But I already turned her down._

"You ok, bro?" Blake asked with concern. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hunter replied. 

"Are you sure? Because you're in dark, brooding mode again," Blake commented. "I think that there's something wrong." 

"Bro, I'm _fine_," Hunter insisted. 

"Why don't you just ask her out?" Blake suggested, referring to Lila. 

Hunter gave his brother an odd look. "But you don't like her," he said. 

"No, but _you_ do," Blake replied. "And that's all that really matters." 

"It wouldn't work out anyway," Hunter shrugged. "I'm a Power Ranger, Blake. It's different for you and Tori. _Both_ of you are Power Rangers. If I start dating Lila, it's going to be _really_ difficult to keep the fact that I'm the crimson thunder ranger secret from her." 

Blake nodded. "Got ya, bro," he said. "Now, are you going to help me pick out a nice outfit to wear or not? And should I get Tori some flowers?" 

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Tori was in her room applying makeup when she heard the doorbell go.__

_Thank goodness my parents are both out,_ Tori thought to herself. She wasn't sure that she really wanted her parents to meet Blake just yet. Whenever her parents met a guy she was dating, they always embarrassed her in front of him. Not that Tori dated _that_ many guys. 

Tori walked to the front door, and opened it. Instead of seeing Blake's face, she saw a big bouquet of flowers. 

"Hey," Blake spoke around the flowers. "I got these for you. I hope you like them." 

"They're lovely," Tori smiled. "Come in, and I'll find a vase for them." 

Blake stepped into the house, and glanced around, as best he could with a big bunch of flowers blocking his view. "No parents?" 

Tori shook her head. "No," she replied. "They're both out." She found a vase in one of the cupboards, and filled it with water. 

Blake came over, and carefully placed the flowers into the vase. 

"Hey, you're wearing a suit," Tori smiled. "I don't think I've _ever_ seen you wearing a suit before." 

"I could say the same thing about you," Blake replied with a grin. "I've _never_ seen you in a dress before." 

"Do you like it?" Tori asked. 

"Tori, you look great whatever you wear," Blake said sincerely. 

Tori smiled, and leaned over to kiss Blake's cheek. "Thanks. So do you." 

There was a moment's silence. Then, Tori asked, "So, where are we going?" 

"I've got us a table booked at a restaurant," Blake answered. "And after that, I have tickets for a movie. And after that?" He shrugged, and gave a shy smile. "It depends on how much time we have left." 

"What restaurant are we going to?" Tori wanted to know. 

Blake beamed. "It's a surprise," he answered. "So is the movie. You have a curfew?" 

"I have to be home by midnight," Tori replied. 

"We should have plenty of time, then." 

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"Cal, Cally. Wake up." 

Cally felt someone shaking her shoulder, and she slowly stirred. She blinked at Faye, who had just been trying to wake her up. "What's up?" 

"Cally, were you having a nightmare?" Faye asked, her expression concerned. "I heard you crying out." 

"Yeah, a nightmare," Cally echoed. "I felt a... darkness moving inside me, growing steadily stronger. It wants to consume me, Faye... I'm scared." 

There was a moment's silence. Then: 

"You didn't try to defend yourself against the silver silk ranger strangling you." 

Cally lowered her head, biting her bottom lip. "No, I didn't," she said at last. "I wanted to die, Faye. I still do. Why didn't you let me die?!" 

"Because you're my best friend," Faye answered. "We were given the light Power Ranger morphers for a reason, Cally. Why do you think _we_ were the ones who got them?" 

Cally shrugged. 

"You, me, David, we all work well together," Faye told Cally. "We're a package deal. We're good at being a team." 

Cally looked away. "We're not anymore, though," she mumbled. "David hates me, Faye. He hates me because I cheated on Dustin." 

"Cal, why _did_ you cheat on Dustin?" Faye asked bluntly. "I thought you were happy being his girlfriend." 

"I thought I was, too," Cally whispered, fidgeting a little. "But I guess not. It's no use looking for a good excuse for what I did, Faye. Because there isn't one. I hate myself for what I did to Dustin. And I'm _so_ sorry for it. More sorry than anyone can ever know." 

"Why don't you tell him, then?" Faye wanted to know. 

Cally laughed bitterly. "What good would _that_ do? Dustin won't forgive me, Faye. It would be stupid to even ask. I hurt him too much." 

"You don't know unless you try," Faye told Cally. "People in love will forgive _any_ wrongdoing. That's what love is. Still loving someone despite how many mistakes they make." 

"Who says that Dustin still loves me?" Cally mumbled. 

"Ok, get up," Faye told Cally. 

Cally stared at her friend. "Huh?" 

"Get up," Faye repeated. "We're going to train, Cally." 

Cally stared. "_Now_? It's really late, Faye." 

"You've been out of practice for too long," Faye replied. "And maybe fighting will be the only way to get you to stop feeling so guilty!" 

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Blake and Tori sat at a table in the Italian restaurant, eating their food. 

"Wow, this is great," Tori smiled. "Thanks for bringing me here, Blake." 

Blake smiled, though, inside, he felt quite nervous. _What are we going to talk about?_ he wondered, feeling a little panicked. _We can't exactly talk about Power Rangers stuff, because of the chance of being overheard._

Blake racked his brain, trying to think of a safe topic of conversation. Finally, he asked, "So how's your surfing going, Tori?" 

Tori gave him a slightly odd look. "Blake, you already know how my surfing is going," she told him. 

"Sorry," Blake replied. "I'm just... you know... trying to come up with an interesting topic of conversation." 

Tori smiled reassuringly at the navy thunder ranger. "Blake, we don't have to talk about _anything_," she said. "Just being here, in your company, is great." 

"Oh, ok." Blake smiled, then asked, "How's your food?" 

"It's great," Tori answered. "I really like Italian food. How's yours?" 

Blake grinned. "Very good." 

"So... Is there a particular reason why you're not touching even a drop of alcohol?" Tori wanted to know. The navy thunder ranger had refused any offer of wine from the waiters, though he had been very polite about it. 

Blake made a slight face. "Actually, yeah, there is," he replied. "Hunter will be really mad if I get drunk and have a hangover tomorrow. Especially seeing as we're supposed to be working in Storm Chargers early in the morning." 

"Wow, he's really overprotective of you," Tori commented. 

"Well, of course he is," Blake defended his brother. "We're the only family we have left. Hunter's _always_ looked out for me. I love him, and he loves me." 

"I'm not trying to be mean about Hunter or anything," Tori said quickly. "I think it's great that Hunter looks out for you. After all, things got a little awkward between you two after Hunter tried to attack you." 

Blake nodded. "He still feels guilty about that," he explained to Tori. "I told him that I know that it wasn't his fault... But Hunter's Hunter. He takes honour very seriously, and it tore him up inside that he hurt me. That was why he was avoiding me for so long afterwards." 

"But you two are cool now, right?" Tori asked. "He knows that you don't blame him for what happened or anything, right?" 

Blake nodded. "He knows that." 

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Hunter walked into NinjaOps to find Cam sitting there, staring at the computer screen. Nothing wrong about that. 

"Cam, what's up?" Hunter wanted to know. "Why did you call me here?" 

"One of Lothor's goons is at the quarry," Cam explained. 

Hunter groaned. "The quarry? Oh, man. That's, like, the place where _most_ of Lothor's monsters show up. What does it look like?" 

Cam gestured towards the screen. 

There was a giant blue creature there. It had hundreds of tentacles which writhed as if with a life of their own. 

Hunter grimaced. "Wow, that's _not_ pretty," he commented. 

"Dustin and Shane are with their parents," Cam told Hunter. "They can't get away easily. I'm just going to try your brother and Tori." 

"No, don't," Hunter said quickly. 

Cam stared at the crimson thunder ranger. "Um, why?" he demanded. 

"My bro finally got up the courage to ask Tori out on a date," Hunter answered. "If you ruin it now, then they might never get another chance. I'll go and fight this monster on my own." 

Cam frowned a little. "You _can't_ go against that creature on your own..." he began. Then, his eyes widened as a sudden thought occurred to him. "I've got an idea!" 

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Read and review, please!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Eight**

****

**Disclaimer:** No, I _still_ don't own it 

**Author's Note:** I need lots and lots of reviews! (Lol). Also, because I have practically nothing else to do, if someone has a request fic they'd like me to write, I'll see what I can do 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**CamFan4Ever:** Well, Cally doesn't plan on hurting Dustin anymore. If he does forgive her, she won't make a mistake like that again. Actually, she's a really hard original character to write --. I'd like to know what people generally think of her****

**garnetred:** Yeah, she does. I'm not totally sure that she'll be able to work out her issues until Dustin forgives her, though. Which probably isn't going to happen any time soon****

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks, glad you liked it . Hope you like this chapter too 

**Jorgitosbabe:** I apologise for not replying to your review in the last chapter, but I didn't actually get it until after I'd posted Chapter Seven. (Grr... this site is _not_ good at letting me know when I've got a new review!) Anyways, glad you liked it 

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"Ok, Cal, we're going to go back to the basics," Faye told her friend. "Back to the meditation stage." 

Cally yawned, rubbing at her eyes. "Faye, I'm _so_ tired," she mumbled. "Can't we do this tomorrow? I _really_ need some sleep." 

"_Now_ is the best time," Faye replied. "I don't care if you feel too tired, Cally. I am _not_ going to risk losing you again! Now, sit down with your legs crossed." 

"You're not exactly the best at training someone," Cally objected. But she sat down anyway, too tired to offer much more than a token resistance to what Faye was ordering her to do. 

"I'm the best you've got, Cally," Faye shot back. "Clearly, you don't realise how wrong it would be for you to try and kill yourself. I'm going to take you through the basics of our training in the hopes that it'll perhaps help clear your mind of all of the clutter inside. Namely, the guilt you feel over what you did to Dustin." 

"But I _can't_ stop feeling guilty over what I did!" Cally protested. "How else is Dustin going to know how sorry I really am?" 

"I didn't say get rid of your guilt," Faye replied. "This is hopefully going to make that guilt easier to deal with. Now, close your eyes." 

Cally obeyed. _Really, doing this should feel stupid,_ she thought to herself. _But, for some reason, it _doesn't_. Maybe Faye's right. Maybe this _is_ what I need._

"Now, clear your mind of all thoughts. All feelings." Faye's voice was soft, and lulled Cally into another world. Another world where pain and suffering did not exist and Cally did not feel anything, not even the ever-present guilt over what she had done. 

Faye watched as a soft violet light enveloped her friend, seemingly lighting the girl up from the inside. Her face glowed, her features peaceful, serene.__

_An advantage to being a Light Ninja,_ Faye thought to herself._ We can use light to clear our mind of pain. But should I try and get her to fight the depression she feels in this state?_ Faye wondered. _She might not be strong enough to throw it off... Yet, if she _doesn't_ throw it off, then it will consume her._

Cally remained sitting perfectly still. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap, and she remained sitting up straight. Slowly, the violet glow spread so that her whole body, including her dark hair, was lit up from within by the violet light.__

_At least she's not wearing anything that clashes with the light,_ Faye thought, feeling a slight trace of amusement. 

Suddenly, Faye felt a small stirring deep inside of herself, and her whole body started tingling. Looking down at one of her arms, Faye jumped as she saw that she herself was lit up from within by an orange light.__

_But... How could _that_ have happened?_ Faye thought to herself. _The light only appears when we're meditating! Why has it suddenly appeared _now 

As Faye watched, orange light from herself swept over to Cally in a long line. As the light came out of her, Faye felt herself growing a little weaker. 

The violet ranger's eyes flew open, and she stared in horror at the light that was going into her. As it entered her body, the orange light was converted to violet.__

_An energy transfer?_ Faye wondered. _It_ has_ to be... But how is it possible? Unless it's because Cally is feeling so weak at the moment..._

"Faye, what are doing?!" Cally cried. 

"It's not me!" Faye replied. "It's doing this on its own!" 

Suddenly, Faye could see what looked like a dark snake curled deep inside Cally. The light flooding her friend's body made it stand out. 

_The depression,_ Faye realised. _That's it. The darkness inside Cally's soul._ Looking closer, Faye could see small strands of violet light wrapped around the darkness, trying to contain it. 

_So_ that's_ why she's been so exhausted lately,_ Faye realised. _She's been attempting to fight the depression, and it's been weakening her in much the same way as fighting off an illness like the flu would. And, of course, as soon as she slipped into meditation, her soul immediately latched onto something that would help her to fight the darkness... And, because I'm a light ranger, it latched onto _me 

"Faye, what do I do?" Cally demanded. Her eyes held fear. 

Faye's own eyes locked onto Cally's. "Fight it," she answered. 

"What? What am I fighting?" 

Before Faye could reply, both of their communicators went off, and a voice echoed, "Hello, I need to speak to you two." 

Instantly, the light vanished, plunging the place into darkness. 

Cally placed a hand over her communicator to muffle the sound, and whispered to Faye, "What are we going to do?" 

"Answer, of course," Faye said. She spoke into her communicator. "Hello, this is the orange light ranger speaking. How can we help?" 

There was a moment's pause, then the voice replied, "This is the green samurai ranger speaking. From outside the forest, remember?" 

Faye glanced at Cally, then spoke into the communicator, "I remember. I and the violet light ranger owe you our lives." 

"Well, now's your chance to repay that debt," the green samurai ranger replied. "There's a monster at the quarry. Unfortunately, there's only one Power Ranger available to go after it... The rest aren't available. It would be great if you two could help out." 

Faye looked at Cally, and mouthed, "What do you think?" 

Cally shrugged. "We _do_ owe them," she admitted in a low voice. "It would not be fair if we did not pay on our debts. At least this way, we're even. We never have to see them again if we don't want to." 

Faye frowned a little. "But wouldn't it be a good idea to try and work with them?" she wanted to know. "If those two silk rangers come after us again, we'll probably need help to fight against them." 

"Well, technically, _they_ didn't come after _us_," Cally said. "We went to them." 

"But they used that frequency to call us," Faye argued. "Actually, it's just as well that I paid attention when David was explaining about different frequencies. It meant that I could call the other Power Rangers to help us. _You_, on the other hand, weren't paying that much attention, as I recall." 

"Yes, that might be because I was in hospital after just having tried to kill myself," Cally replied acidly. 

"Um, we don't exactly have all night," the voice of the green samurai ranger echoed from the communicators. 

Faye looked at Cally, who nodded vigorously. 

"All right," Faye sighed. "We'll meet you at the quarry, ok?" 

"It won't be me there," the green samurai ranger replied. "It'll be the crimson thunder ranger there. I have certain... important things that I need to do." 

"Whatever." Faye looked at Cally. "You ready?" she asked. 

Cally nodded. 

"Light Storm, Ranger Form!" 

The two transformed into their respective Power Ranger forms. 

"Power of light!" 

"All right, let's go," Faye told Cally. And the two streaked off. 

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Hunter glanced up as the violet and orange rangers came next to him. Wordlessly, he pointed to the tentacled monster. 

"Yuck," the violet ranger commented. She looked at Hunter. "So what's the plan?" 

"I'm not exactly sure," Hunter admitted. "I couldn't think of anything better than just fight it." 

The orange ranger looked at the violet ranger. "Guess we're going to have to get used to working as a two," she said. 

The violet ranger nodded. 

"There's supposed to be more of you?" Hunter was puzzled. 

"Only one more," the violet ranger answered. "He kind of... well... left. We don't know where he is now." 

"Could Lothor have captured him?" Hunter suggested. "He did that to me and... the other thunder ranger." Hunter didn't quite want to admit about the other thunder ranger being his brother. Dustin's caution still rang in his ears. The yellow wind ranger was right. They didn't really know if they could trust these two. 

"It's possible, I suppose," the orange ranger admitted. "Neither of us really thought about that happening." 

"Are we just going to sit here?" the violet ranger broke in. "We _can't_ let that monster run a rampage through the town! Who knows how many people it could harm?" 

The orange ranger clamped a hand down on the violet ranger's shoulder. Hunter noticed with some surprise that this immediately calmed the latter down. It reminded him of how he and Blake were. Were these two sisters? Or just exceedingly close? Hunter would have asked, but he wasn't curious enough to give away any details about himself, so he didn't think that it was fair to expect these two to tell him about themselves. He was still a bit curious, though. For instance, about how long ago they had come to Blue Bay Harbour. But, anyway, they had a monster to worry about at the moment. 

"So... Either of you two got any ideas?" Hunter asked in a low voice. 

"As if," the violet ranger murmured. "Your friend wasn't really very helpful. He just asked us to come, and told us where, and that was it." 

"Well, we _can't_ just attack that thing and hope for the best," the orange ranger protested. 

"Why not?" the violet ranger asked. "It's worked before." 

"Yes, but there was three of us before," the orange ranger said. 

"There's three of us _now_, though," Hunter pointed out. 

"Yes, but we've never worked together before," the orange ranger replied. "We don't know your strengths and weaknesses, and you don't know ours. We won't be able to work well as a team." 

"Good point," Hunter responded. "But we're going to have to work together now." 

"Anyone _else_ wonder why that monster's just standing there?" the violet ranger asked. 

"Do you think it knows that we're here?" the orange ranger wanted to know. 

"Probably," Hunter replied. "It's probably just waiting for us to show ourselves. Man, I _really_ wish that the others were here," he muttered. "It's going to be difficult to defeat this alien with only three of us and no way of creating an ultimate weapon or megazord." 

"Can we just get _on_ with this?" the violet ranger demanded.__

_Wow, she's impatient to start fighting,_ Hunter thought to himself. _Then again, she _does_ have a point._

"Easy girl," the orange ranger murmured. "Remember what we talked about earlier." She squeezed the violet ranger's shoulder lightly. 

"Let's get on with it," Hunter said shortly. He leaped off the ledge they were on, and stood with his arms folded. "Hey you!" 

The orange ranger and the violet ranger exchanged glances, then somersaulted off the ledge to land either side of Hunter. 

"Could you please warn us the next time you decide to do something like that?" the violet ranger asked. 

"Sorry," Hunter replied. 

"Ah, the Power Rangers," the alien breathed in a voice that sounded like the hissing of snakes. "Funny, aren't there supposed to be more of you?" 

"Three of us are more than enough to defeat _you_!" Hunter replied. 

"I don't think so," the alien hissed. Three of its tentacles reached out, curling and writhing, aiming for the three Power Rangers. 

Hunter and the violet ranger got out of the way, but one of the tentacles wrapped around the orange ranger. The alien slammed her into a rock. 

The violet ranger ran over to her friend. "Are you all right?" she cried. 

The orange ranger struggled to her feet. "I... _think_ so," she answered. "I just feel really... weak." 

"Those tentacles must be able to suck the energy out of people," Hunter commented, walking over to the other two, 

"That's really _not_ good," the violet ranger muttered. She looked at Hunter. "What should we do?" 

"Stay out of the way of the tentacles?" Hunter suggested. He wasn't too sure about these two looking to him for leadership. The orange ranger had been right when she had said that they didn't know anything about each other. 

The violet ranger's weapon appeared in her hands. It was long and shaped like a unicorn's horn. The orange ranger's weapon was shaped like a large cat's claw. 

"Pity we can't combine _our_ weapons together," Hunter muttered, his crimson blaster appearing in his hands. "Let's do this!" 

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Blake had to admit that the movie hadn't been the _best_ he'd ever seen. But Tori didn't seem to mind. 

As they left the cinema, Blake reached to take Tori's hand, squeezing it lightly. 

Tori smiled at him. "I'm really glad I came out with you today," she said. 

Blake glanced at his watch, then grinned at Tori. "It doesn't have to end yet," he told her. "We still have a couple of hours until you're supposed to be home." 

Tori tilted her head slightly, returning Blake's smile. "What else do you have planned?" she wanted to know. 

Blake gave an almost shy smile. "I was thinking of taking a walk along the beach," he answered. "It should be really lovely at this time of night." 

"That sounds like a really nice idea," Tori replied. She realised that Blake still hadn't released her hand, but said nothing. She kind of liked the feel of the navy thunder ranger holding her hand. 

The beach _was_ lovely at night. Tori made a mental note to herself to come here more often at this time of night even as she murmured, "This is so beautiful." 

Blake looked at her shyly. "Almost as beautiful as you," he replied. His grip tightened on Tori's hand. There. He had said it. 

Tori blinked at Blake. "You're saying that I'm... beautiful?" she questioned. 

Blake nodded, then stopped and reached to take Tori's other hand as well. "Tori, this might not be the right thing to tell you here and now," he whispered. "But... I think I'm falling in love with you." He looked steadily into the blue wind ranger's eyes, and prayed silently to whoever was listening that she would feel the same way about him. 

Tori hesitated for a long moment. Then, she slipped her arms around Blake's neck, and kissed him. 

Blake returned the kiss, trying to convey all of the love he had for the lovely blue ranger through his kiss. He felt dizzyingly happy. He forgot everything else apart from the feel of Tori's lips on his. 

The two kissed for what felt like several lifetimes, just tasting each other's lips. Blake stroked Tori's hair and back in slow circles. 

Finally, they pulled away, but Blake still held Tori tightly. He rested his forehead against hers, and gave a soft laugh. "Wow." 

Tori gave a slightly dazed smile. "'Wow' is right," she agreed. "I guess this is what it means to be truly in love with someone?" 

Blake nodded. "Oh, yeah," he replied. "Well, it's how _I_ imagine being in love with someone is truly like," he quickly amended. "Obviously, I've never actually been in love with anyone before now." 

"Me neither," Tori breathed. "I love you too," she added, raising her head to meet Blake's lips again. 

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The fight against the tentacled alien wasn't going particularly well. 

All three Power Rangers were extremely weak. The violet ranger in particular kept on falling, apparently tripping over her own feet. Miraculously, though, none of them had actually demorphed. Their true identities were still secret. 

_We _can't _go on like this,_ Hunter realised. _Something's gotta change, and soon. Otherwise, we'll lose this battle. And quite possibly our lives too._

The orange ranger limped over to Hunter. "What should we do?" she pleaded. "None of us will be able to battle for much longer. That alien's just too powerful for us." 

"No, it's not!" Hunter replied, suddenly angry with the orange ranger for being about to give up so easily. "You've got to throw everything you have into this battle!" 

"That's what we've _been_ doing, though," the orange ranger protested, glancing towards the violet ranger, who had just been slapped with a tentacle and knocked to the ground. She was a while getting up again. 

"We _can_ do this!" Hunter insisted. 

"Maybe..." the orange ranger began. 

"Maybe what?" Hunter demanded. 

The orange ranger took a deep breath. "We never actually _tried_ to put our weapons together," she replied. "We just assumed that it wouldn't work... But what if it _does_ work?" 

Hunter looked at the helmeted head facing him for a long moment, then said, "All right. We can try it." 

The orange ranger nodded. She raced over to the violet ranger, and, grabbing her arm, pulled her back towards Hunter. 

"We're going to put our weapons together," Hunter told the violet ranger, who nodded. 

Hunter winced a little. Despite the fact that he couldn't see the violet ranger's face, he could tell that she was exhausted, simply because he was too. They _had_ to finish up this fight for the simple fact that each of them needed to rest. 

A little surprised, Hunter found that the three weapons fit together quite easily. He motioned the two girls behind him, and leveled the light storm blaster at the alien. 

Just as Hunter fired, a tentacle whipped towards him and slapped him hard across the chest. The crimson thunder ranger flew backwards, feeling himself demorph even as he did so. 

Hunter watched through a red haze as the alien was shot and its body disintegrated. He was incredibly relieved to see that the alien wasn't made to grow. 

Hunter's eyes then widened as he saw a figure making its way towards the two light rangers. It was a white Power Ranger, and its suit was in the same style as the other two. _It must be the third light Power Ranger,_ Hunter realised. But there was something... odd about the way the white ranger moved. And his words chilled Hunter to the bone. 

"Well, well, Cally and Faye," the white ranger breathed. "Looks like you're not totally useless without me after all." 

"David, what are _you_ doing here?" Faye demanded. 

"Congratulating you," the white ranger, who was clearly David, answered. "I _had_ thought to take you two out _now_... But it wouldn't be much of a challenge. You two are too weak. So I'm afraid that you'll just have to wait."__

_Cally?!_ Hunter thought. _The same Cally who cheated on Dustin? It might not be... But it seems too much of a coincidence for Dustin's ex-girlfriend to show up almost at the same time as these two light rangers!_

"David, what do you mean?" the violet ranger wanted to know. 

"I mean, Cally, that you have to pay for what you did to Dustin!" David snapped. "And it's _not_ going to be quick and easy!" 

_Yep, definitely the same Cally,_ Hunter realised. _I'll have to do my best to remember the true identity of the three light rangers... I'll have to tell Dustin. It's not fair to him. And... Cam asked them for help..._ But Hunter was feeling unconsciousness gradually overtake him. He fought his hardest to stay conscious, though. He _had_ to find out as much as he could. 

"But... Cally's already paid for that," Faye protested. "Don't you remember? She ended up in hospital because she tried to kill herself..." 

At those words, Hunter's eyes snapped open again. _Here_ was something unexpected. A person didn't try to kill themselves unless they felt _really_ bad about something... Did they?__

_Must... remember,_ Hunter thought to himself. But the crimson thunder ranger felt his mind beginning to drift. He _had_ to rest. 

"I don't care," David said coldly. "Cally _will_ pay for what she did... But not yet. It would be too easy to destroy her now. She doesn't deserve a quick, easy death." 

Hunter blacked out. 

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Cam was working in NinjaOps when he heard someone enter behind him. He turned round, and his eyes widened at the sight facing him. 

The violet ranger and the orange ranger were standing there. Between them, they were supporting an unconscious, demorphed Hunter. 

"What happened?" Cam demanded. 

"One of the tentacles on that alien got him," the violet ranger explained. Her voice sounded strangely distant, like she was concentrating on something else. Or, at least, _thinking_ of something else. 

Cam blinked at that. "The tentacles?" he repeated. 

"Those tentacles sucked the energy out of our bodies," the orange ranger said. "Just as the alien was destroyed, it slapped him with a tentacle and took the rest of his energy." 

"His name is Hunter," Cam said shortly. "Follow me." He walked into the rec. room, where there was a bed. "Lay him down on here," he told the two rangers. 

The violet and orange rangers obeyed. 

"Well, now you know the identity of two of the Power Rangers here in Blue Bay Harbour," Cam said slowly. 

The violet and orange ranger looked at each other, then at Cam. 

"It's all right," the violet ranger said. "We won't let on that we know your true identity. But we _really_ need to go now. I'm sorry." And, with those words, the violet and orange rangers left. 

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Read and review, please!


	9. Chapter Nine

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Nine**

****

**Disclaimer:** Nope, still don't own it. And if I tried to get any money out of this fic, I'd be sued 

**Author's Note:** Well, I've just worked out that if I _do_ delete this fic, I'm still going to be bothered by it. I have to keep writing until the end, and after that... -Shrugs- Who knows? 

**RedFox:** You just don't want them to know that... Mmph! -Is cut off by DarkAngel's hand over her mouth 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**garnetred:** Well, obviously I can't tell you the reasons behind David's actions... It would ruin the fic for you, probably 

**CamFan4Ever:** Just Faye and Cally? Lol. Thanks, glad you like them! 

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"So... We now know the identity of two of the Power Rangers," Faye said to Cally. 

Cally started to nod, then frowned. "Well, we don't know their _names_," she said. "We just know what they look like." 

Faye shrugged a little. "Same difference," she replied. "We know what they look like. We'll know them when we next see them." 

Cally nodded. "What do you think about David?" she wanted to know. 

Faye leaned back a little, frowning. "To be honest, I don't know," she admitted. "I mean, he was acting _totally_ out of character. David might be mad at you for cheating on Dustin, but he _definitely_ wouldn't want to attack you or try to kill you for it." 

"Do you think that the crimson thunder ranger was right?" Cally asked. "That David could have been... brainwashed... by Lothor." 

"I wouldn't put it past him," Faye muttered. "I suppose it _is_ possible... But if that _did_ happen, how are we going to be able to bring him back?" 

"I don't know," Cally shrugged. She then yawned. 

"Tired?" Faye asked. 

Cally nodded, yawning again. "That fight _really_ took a lot out of me," she said. "I'm really glad that you came up with the idea of combining our weapons." 

"I should have come up with that idea earlier," Faye replied. She gave a soft sigh. "I think that we _both_ need some rest," she added. 

"I'm too exhausted to sleep," Cally admitted. "I don't think that I'll be able to get my body to relax." 

"Why don't you just try clearing your mind of every thought?" Faye suggested. "Like you do when meditating." 

"And risk what happened earlier happening again?" Cally shook her head. "There's some washing up and drying up to do in the kitchen. I'll do that, and then I'll go to bed." 

"Do you want me to keep you company?" Faye wanted to know. 

Cally shook her head. "No, I'll be fine," she replied. "You go on to bed. Don't worry about me." 

Faye nodded, and got up from the sofa. "See you in the morning," she told her friend. 

When Faye was gone, Cally walked into the kitchen, and ran some hot water. She then washed up the plates and glasses and cutlery which were next to the sink.__

_What can I do?_ Cally wondered as she wiped some soap bubbles off of her morpher with a tea towel. _Things were bad enough with Dustin hating me... Now David wants me to pay, and he probably wants to hurt Faye, too. Which doesn't make sense. Faye's his girlfriend, after all._

Cally dried up the things, and put them away. _I guess I should try and get some sleep,_ she thought to herself. _If I don't, I'll just be really tired when I get up tomorrow morning._

Cally went upstairs, and went to bed. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Hunter slowly stirred, and looked around, blinking a little.__

_Where am I?_ the crimson thunder ranger wondered. _Oh, yeah. NinjaOps. What am I doing here?_

Cam then came into the rec. room. "Oh, you're awake," he said shortly. "How are you feeling? Any side effects?"__

_Side effects of what?_ "Could I have a drink of water, please?" Hunter asked out loud. "My throat feels _really_ dry." 

"Ok," Cam sighed. Not that he could really fault Hunter for being thirsty. "But then tell me how you're feeling, and what happened." 

"I will." 

Cam nodded, and left the room.__

_There's... something I need to remember,_ Hunter thought to himself, frowning a little. _I_ know_ that it's something important... But I can't remember what it is._

Hunter remembered fighting the tentacled alien with the two light rangers. He even remembered them realising that they could actually combine their weapons to create a new ultimate weapon, based on the suggestion of the orange ranger. Hunter also remembered one of the tentacles hitting him across the chest, drawing out the last of his energy and causing him to demorph. 

And, after that, everything was a blank. 

Hunter winced. Thinking through everything that had happened made his head hurt. He wondered if the two light rangers were feeling the effects of the fight as well. Probably.__

_How did I get here?_ Hunter wondered. The most likely explanation was that the two light rangers had somehow brought him here... But wouldn't that have meant that they'd seen Cam unmorphed, too?__

_So they probably know the identity of two of us,_ Hunter realised. _Pity that none of us have any idea of _their_ true identity... It would certainly make things more even between us._

Almost as though those thoughts had unlocked a hidden door in his mind, Hunter remembered other things as well. After he had been knocked down, there had been the arrival of another Power Ranger... A third light ranger. And...__

_They referred to each other by name,_ Hunter remembered. _But I can't remember what their names were, or any of their conversation._

At just that moment, Cam returned with a glass of water, interrupting Hunter's thoughts. 

The green samurai ranger helped Hunter to take small sips of the water before asking, "So... What happened?" 

Hunter relayed everything, up until the time he had been knocked down and forced to demorph. He didn't mention the arrival of the third light ranger, though. Didn't want to cause any of the others any more worry than he had to. 

When Hunter had finished, Cam nodded slowly. "The two light rangers brought you here," he told the crimson thunder ranger. 

Hunter made a slight grimace. "I figured as much," he replied. "Does that mean that they saw you unmorphed?" 

Cam nodded slowly. "They said that they'd keep our true identities a secret, though," he added. "Or words to that effect, anyway." 

"That's a relief," Hunter said. Why _can't I remember their names? I remember everything else!_ Out loud, he continued, "I don't think that we'd better tell Shane that our identities are now known, though... Does your father know?" 

"Yeah," Cam answered. "I told him. He would have ended up getting suspicious, anyway." 

"That makes sense," Hunter commented. "Have you told the others about that alien yet?" he wanted to know. 

Cam shook his head. "No, not yet," he replied. "I was going to get your brother to come here... But then I remembered what you had said about his and Tori's date, and figured that you'd probably get mad if I did. I decided that I'd wait for a couple of hours, then call him if your condition hadn't changed at all." 

Hunter closed his eyes and gave a soft laugh, then winced as it hurt his ribs. He then thought of something. "Hey, Cam, is my morpher shot?" he asked. 

Blinking, the green samurai ranger slowly shook his head. "No," he answered. "Why do you ask?" 

"Those tentacles sucked the energy out of my body," Hunter explained. "Out of the light rangers' bodies, too." _Now _that_ reminds me of something... Something the white light ranger said, I think. I really wish I could remember._

Cam frowned a little. "I don't _think_ that it'll have any lasting effect on your morpher," he told Hunter. "But you might want to be careful for the next couple of days. No morphing if you don't have a good reason to do so." 

Hunter closed his eyes again, and slowly shook his head. "Dude, I _never_ morph without a good reason," he replied. 

Cam rolled his eyes. "I'll believe _that_ when I see it," he said, making his way towards the door. "You can stay here for tonight and rest," he tossed over his shoulder. 

Hunter nodded. Then, "Hey, Cam?" 

The green samurai ranger paused. "Yeah?" 

"Let my brother know where I am, ok? I don't want him to get worried." 

"I'll tell Blake." Then, Cam was gone. 

Hunter let sleep overtake him. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Dustin, Hunter, and Blake were working in Storm Chargers that morning. 

Even Dustin could hardly fail to see the condition the crimson thunder ranger was in. He couldn't carry any heavy stuff, and Blake was hovering around him with a worried expression on his face all the time. 

"Hey, dude, you ok?" Dustin asked Hunter when they got a break from shifting boxes into the storeroom and items out into the shop. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hunter answered, though he was clearly _not_ fine. He was too pale, for one thing. 

Blake glared at Hunter. "Bro, tell the truth," he ordered. 

"I _am_," Hunter insisted. "I'm fine. Honestly. Give me a couple of days, and I'll have gotten all of my energy back." 

Dustin blinked, and looked from Hunter to Blake and back again. Then, dreading the answer, he asked, "What happened?" 

"Well, dude, it was nothing really..." Hunter began. 

"He went off against one of Lothor's space freaks," Blake cut Hunter off. Glaring at Hunter, he added, "_Without_ backup." 

"Well, technically, it wasn't without backup," Hunter protested. "Those two light rangers were helping me out." 

"Except that there's apparently a _third_ light ranger who won't play nice," Blake muttered, glaring at Hunter again. "Besides, you don't know _anything_ about those two light rangers!" 

"Yes, I do," Hunter said. 

"Oh, really? What are their names, then?" Blake challenged. 

To Dustin's surprise, Hunter actually looked kind of... worried for a moment. "See, _that's_ a problem," the crimson thunder ranger explained. "The fact is, I went down hard as we defeated the alien and demorphed, and that was when I saw the third light ranger... A white one. And I could _swear_ that they referred to each other by name. And I remember thinking that I had to remember what I heard. But..." He shrugged. 

"You _don't_ remember," Dustin guessed. 

"Quick on the uptake there, Dustin," Blake muttered. 

"He's just annoyed because he got in late from his date with Tori and he hasn't had much sleep," Hunter told Dustin. 

"You and Tori went out on a _date_?" Dustin stared at Blake. "Dude, I never thought you two would actually do that." 

"Yeah, well, we did," Blake replied. "It actually went pretty well... Apart from the movie." 

"Not a success?" 

Blake hesitated. "Tori didn't seem to mind," he answered finally. 

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Bro, that's because she liked being in your company," he told the navy thunder ranger. 

"Guess you two are both pretty good with the whole romance thing," Dustin commented, thinking, _Now if only _I_ was._

"Well, sorta..." Hunter said slowly. 

"That girl who was in here the other day? She really likes Hunter," Blake explained to Dustin. "But he doesn't want to date her because of the fact that he's a Power Ranger, and he'd be keeping a huge secret from her if he _did_ date her. But I told him that he should just go for it, and made him promise that he would ask her out the next time he saw her." 

"Well, here's your chance," Dustin told Hunter, noticing Lila walking into Storm Chargers. 

"Come on, bro, you promised," Blake told Hunter with a huge grin on his face as his brother hesitated. 

Hunter glared at Blake. "Remind me never to promise you anything ever again," he muttered. But he walked over to Lila anyway. 

Lila flashed Hunter a smile as soon as she saw him. "Hello," she greeted him. 

"Hey," Hunter replied. "How's it going?" 

"Pretty good," Lila replied. Then, she grinned. "You made a pretty good impression on Peter. He hasn't stopped talking about you for ages." 

Hunter laughed a little. Then, noticing Blake's eyes on him, he asked, "Hey, are you doing anything at the moment?" 

Lila blinked. "Um, no," she answered slowly. "I don't believe so. Why?" 

"Would you like to go out and get a coffee or something with me?" 

Lila gave Hunter a startled look, and the crimson thunder ranger quickly amended, "I mean as friends." 

Lila smiled, and slowly nodded. "Oh, ok," she said. "As friends. At least it means that I don't have to dress up."__

_You'd look good in whatever you wear,_ Hunter thought to himself. But he didn't say that out loud. Instead, he asked, "Shall we go now?" 

Lila nodded. "Sure." 

"I'm just taking off, Kelly," Hunter called over his shoulder as he led Lila out of Storm Chargers. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Despite everything, Cally still woke up quite early, as usual.__

_Guess old habits are hard to break,_ Cally noted to herself as she lay in bed, not wanting to get up just yet. Her bed felt comfortable and warm. 

Finally, Cally got out of her bed, and, after getting showered and dressed, walked into Faye's room with her hair still wet. 

Faye was already up as well. The two had always been early risers simply because they had never got out of the habit of getting up early. It didn't matter how late they went to bed the night before. They still woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep, no matter how tired they actually felt. 

"Morning," Faye smiled. 

"Morning," Cally replied. She sat on the edge of her friend's bed. "I'm going to take off this morning," she told her friend. "Thought I'd go for a run or something." 

Faye frowned a little. "I was hoping that maybe we could do some training this morning," she replied. 

"To be honest, I don't think I'll be up to doing much training," Cally admitted. "Not after what happened last night." 

"No, you're probably right," Faye agreed. She looked worriedly at her friend's hair. "Are you going to be all right going out with wet hair?" she wanted to know. 

Cally gave a light laugh. "I'll be fine," she replied. "It's hot enough outside that my hair will dry in no time." 

"Ok. If you're sure." 

Just before she left Faye's room, Cally turned to look at her friend. "You know, you could have gone with David," she said. 

Faye nodded. "And ended up like him, quite possibly," she replied. 

Cally gave a soft sigh, and tears sparkled in her eyes for a brief moment. "I'm glad you didn't," she said softly. "I don't think I could stand someone else I care about turning against me and hating me." Then, she was gone. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Dustin was cleaning behind the counter when he felt a kind of prickling sensation and knew that he was being watched. He looked up, and _she_ was there. 

Cally was standing just inside the shop. Her dark hair hung in soaked strands, and water dripped down her face. Her white top was soaked through, causing it to go see-through. Dustin wondered if Cally was even aware of that, though. She was making no effort to cover herself. Or maybe she_ was_ aware of it and didn't care. 

Wishing that Blake hadn't gone to help Kelly out back, Dustin walked over to Cally. "What are _you_ doing here?" he demanded. 

Cally gave him an odd look. "It's raining outside," she answered. "This was the first shop I came to, so I decided to shelter inside here. That'll teach me to listen to weather reports," she added with a slight frown. "I only went out for a run." 

"Well, it _was_ nice earlier," Dustin admitted. 

Cally gave him a small smile, and Dustin was hard-pressed not to look at her chest. It was rather tempting. 

And then, Dustin noticed something else. He stared at Cally's throat, and asked, "What are those marks around your neck?" 

"Oh, I had an accident with a scarf," Cally explained after a moment's hesitation, feeling her heart thump hard in her chest. She hadn't actually expected anyone to ask her about this. 

Dustin nodded, though, seeming to accept this answer. Then, he frowned. "Did you know that your top's gone see-through?" 

"It has?" Cally looked down at herself, and went bright red, attempting to cover up her chest. "Oh, shoot!" 

Dustin had to laugh at that. He went over to the counter, and, picking his coat up, brought it over to Cally. He settled it gently around her shoulders. 

Dustin's fingers brushed against the bare skin of Cally's throat. 

Both froze, feeling the spark that both had assumed had gone. Like a jolt of electricity. Old feelings were reawakened. 

Dustin found his gaze drawn to Cally's lips. He ached with the need to kiss her again. Just a light, gentle kiss. Then, he could pull away. Hurt her as she had hurt him. 

Dustin's hands rested on Cally's shoulders. He started to lean forward, his eyes still on her lips. Just a little taste... 

Someone cleared their throat. Dustin jerked away from Cally, silently berating himself. He had almost given in to his feelings towards her again. Feelings that he thought had been long buried. 

Hunter was standing there, Lila next to him. Both looked a little embarrassed, but Dustin didn't care. He was glad that they had returned when they did. 

"Um... Were we interrupting anything?" Hunter asked. 

Dustin quickly shook his head. "No, of course not!" he replied quickly. He heard his own answer echoed by Cally. 

"Dustin, could I talk to you for a moment?" Hunter asked. 

Lila's gaze traveled to the healing bruises around Cally's neck. 

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Read and review, please! 

Wow... That was hard to write. I'm beginning to wonder if this fic is more trouble than it's worth. Anyways, tell me what you think


	10. Chapter Ten

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Ten**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**RedFox:** -Looks at author- I don't think she's feeling very happy at the moment... 

**DarkAngel:** Yeah... Again -Frowns- 

**Replies to reviews:**

****

**Jorgitosbabe:** That's probably me posting too fast... Lol. The chapters are probably going to start being put up less frequently as and when I lose interest in the fic 

**CamFan4Ever:** Yeah, that was sort of the effect I was going for with Hunter and Lila and Cally and Dustin... And as for deleting the story... Well, sometimes I get to the stage where I just want to bang my head against the desk because it's so boring, and, on other occasions, I get loads of ideas. Only trouble is, I'm a bit worried about using some of the new ideas. People might start yelling 'Mary Sue'. If they're not already... 

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it 

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Dustin nodded quickly to Hunter. "Yeah, sure, Hunter," he replied.__

_Hunter?_ Cally thought. _I must remember to tell Faye that._ The violet light ranger studied the crimson thunder ranger carefully out of the corner of her eye. He didn't _seem_ to know her... Then again, he wouldn't necessarily have been told her name.__

_I really wish that I knew whether he was unconscious when David showed up,_ Cally thought to herself. She glanced up, and met Lila's intent gaze. 

Hunter glanced curiously at Cally, then at Dustin. 

"Oh, this is Cally," Dustin said quickly. "Cally, this is Hunter." 

Cally stiffened slightly as Hunter's eyes flared with recognition. But she relaxed when the crimson thunder ranger said, "I thought it might be. Come on, Dustin. I need to talk to Blake as well as you."__

_Hunter must know about the fact that I cheated on Dustin,_ Cally realised as the two walked away. _Honestly, a girl makes _one_ mistake... Oh, all right. It was a huge mistake._

Once Hunter and Dustin were gone, Lila asked in a suspiciously sweet voice, "Where did you get those bruises around your neck from?" 

Cally looked carefully at Lila. "I had an... accident with a scarf," she said finally. 

Lila flashed a smile, though it wasn't a nice one. "Maybe you should just stop using scarves?" she suggested. "Sounds like they may be too much for you to handle."__

_She's warning me off,_ Cally realised. She stared hard at Lila. _The silver silk ranger,_ her instincts told her. 

Cally smiled softly, dangerously. "I'm not a quitter," she told Lila. 

"Then _I_ won't be responsible for what happens," Lila replied. "You're not the best fighter around, Cally. You almost died the other day. It was only by luck that you managed to survive."__

_Luck, and a very loyal friend._ Cally took a step closer to Lila. "Stay out of my way," she said in a deadly tone. 

"Gonna threaten me?" Lila smiled. "I saw you with Dustin, Cally. Looks like there's a lot of history between you two."__

_You don't know the half of it,_ Cally thought to herself. 

"Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat," Lila said. "But I have a shopping trip to get to. Bye." She blew Cally a mock kiss, and then left the shop. 

Cally stared after her. _Is she threatening me?_ the violet light ranger wondered. _She'd better not try anything... I'm not worried if _I_ end up dead... But if she hurts my friends..._

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Hunter and Dustin walked into the storeroom of Storm Chargers. 

"Hey, Kel, we'll take over," Dustin told their boss. 

"Sure, ok," Kelly replied, straightening from where she had been going through one of the boxes. "I should probably be getting back into the shop anyway." With those words, Kelly left the storeroom. 

"So, how did your date go?" Blake asked his brother with a grin. 

"Well, first of all, it wasn't a _date_," Hunter answered. "Lila's perfectly happy with us going out as just friends." 

The amused look on Blake's face said that he didn't really believe that, but he didn't argue the point. "Well, anyway, how'd it go?" he wanted to know. 

Hunter shrugged a little. "It went all right," he replied. "We just went out to get some coffee... Well, Lila didn't have coffee. She doesn't like it. She had a coke instead." 

Blake laughed a little. 

"So... Have you remembered anything more about that conversation between the light rangers?" Dustin asked in a low voice after glancing around to make sure that Kelly hadn't suddenly decided to come back into the storeroom. 

Hunter slowly shook his head. "Unfortunately, no," he admitted in a low voice. "And I'm _really_ worried about that. I'm _sure_ that the conversation was important." 

"Hey, don't worry about it, bro," Blake said, clapping a hand on Hunter's shoulder. "It's hardly your fault if you can't remember what happened. You _were_ hurt, after all." 

"Do you remember anything about how the light rangers acted?" Dustin wanted to know. "I mean, like, what their personalities might be like or whatever?" 

"Well, the orange ranger seemed to be the calmer one of the two," Hunter explained slowly. "The violet ranger was quite impatient to get on with the fight, if I remember correctly, which seemed a little odd to me. But the orange ranger was able to keep her reasonably calm."__

_There's something else, though,_ Blake thought as he watched his brother. The two thunder rangers knew each other well enough to know when the other was hiding something. 

"What are you not telling us, bro?" Blake asked Hunter. 

Hunter hesitated for a long moment. "They know _my_ identity," he said at last. "I think I already mentioned that I had to morph when that tentacle hit me across the chest... But it wasn't just _my_ identity that those two light rangers found out." 

Blake frowned a little. "Who else's identity did they find out?" he wanted to know. 

"Cam's." 

"Well, dude, Shane _did_ tell them where NinjaOps is," Dustin pointed out. "And, like, Cam doesn't stay morphed at NinjaOps." 

"Dustin has a point," Blake told his brother. 

"Yeah, I guess so," Hunter replied slowly. He then looked at Dustin. "So, what was all that about with Cally?" 

Blake blinked. "Huh?" 

"Oh, that. Well, I don't really know what happened," Dustin admitted, feeling a little embarrassed. _I can't _believe_ I almost kissed Cally. I never would have thought that I still have feelings for her despite what she put me through. How many more times am I going to be made a fool of because of her?_

"Hey, bro, are you all right?" Blake asked Dustin with concern. 

Dustin nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered. He didn't _feel_ fine, though. Even after all this time, just thinking about what Cally had done to him created a stir of different emotions within him. On the one hand, he was furious with Cally for what she had done to him. But on the other hand...__

_I still love her,_ Dustin knew. _As crazy as it sounds, I do. I don't think that I'll ever really get over what she did to me. Why did she have to come back? It's just hurting me again, and if she were truly sorry for what she did, she'd stay away._

"Did I bring up some bad memories?" Hunter asked softly. "I'm sorry." 

"It's all right." Even to his own ears, Dustin's voice sounded hollow and distant. "I don't know why I was going to kiss her. She came inside because it was raining, and I noticed that her white top was soaked and had become see-through. I put my coat around her shoulders, and then my hand brushed her throat. And..." He shrugged, not really able to put into words what he had felt then. 

"You still love her," Blake guessed. 

Dustin had to grin at that. "Oh, you can so tell that you're in love," he gently teased Blake. 

Blake and Dustin laughed, but Hunter remained silent, his expression thoughtful. 

"Something wrong, bro?" Blake wanted to know. 

"Not really," Hunter said. "I was just thinking..." His eyes found Dustin's. "Look, I know that what Cally did to you was harsh... But it looks like you both still have feelings for each other..."__

_Yeah, like that witch could ever have feelings for me,_ Dustin thought rebelliously. 

"I mean, you can tell me to mind my own business, if you want," Hunter continued slowly. "But... maybe you should _try_ becoming friends with her again, at least?" 

Dustin shook his head. "I... _can't_..." he said. "I'm still mad at her for cheating on me. Even if we _did_ become friends again, and only friends, that would still hang over our heads like a dark cloud." 

Blake frowned a little. "But what if Cally thinks that there's now something between you two?" he wanted to know. 

Dustin slowly shook his head. "She won't," he said. "She knows how I feel about her. At least, she _should_ know how mad I am at her still." 

Blake nodded slowly. "Well, we're here for you, bro," he told Dustin while his brother nodded in agreement. "If you need to talk to us at all, about _anything_, we'll be there for you." 

"Thanks," Dustin smiled. "That means a lot to me." 

"Hey, we're your friends," Hunter told Dustin. "We don't really know what you're going through because neither of us has actually had a girlfriend cheat on us before... But we can still be there for you if you need a friend." Hunter saw the way Dustin's eyes lit up at his words, and winced a little inside. Dustin didn't deserve something like this to have happened to him. It wasn't fair to the gentle yellow wind ranger.__

_Dustin wouldn't hurt _anyone Hunter thought to himself._ I hope that Cally regrets what she did to him._ Odd... There had been something vaguely familiar about that young woman. He must have seen her around town at some point and forgotten. 

"Come on," Blake said, breaking the silence. "We'd better get moving with unpacking these boxes." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

"Can I help you?" 

Cally glanced up, and found herself face-to-face with the auburn-haired woman she had seen the last time she had been in Storm Chargers when she had come in with Faye. She was probably only a little older than Cally. 

"Um, no," Cally replied, feeling a little awkward. She wasn't that good at talking to strangers. She never knew what to say to them. "I came in here because it was raining outside." And her top had gone see-through... But Cally wasn't going to mention _that_ out loud. She hadn't even noticed until Dustin had pointed it out to her, after all. It had been completely embarrassing. 

"So you're not looking for anything to do with bikes?" the woman asked. 

Cally slowly shook her head. "Actually, to be honest, I'm not really keen on bikes," she confessed, really hoping that the woman wasn't going to be offended by her words. "Most of the time, I don't know what people see in riding bikes." _People like Dustin._ Cally felt a small stab of pain go through her at this thought. 

The woman laughed a little. "That's usually the way it goes with things you're not interested in," she said. She then held out a hand. "My name's Kelly." 

Cally hesitated for just a moment, then shook the woman's hand. Her grip was firm, and the violet light ranger could feel the strength in it. "I'm Cally." 

"So... I noticed you and your friend talking with Dustin the other day," Kelly commented. It wasn't _exactly_ a question... But it was clear that she was expecting some sort of response, at least. 

Cally tilted her head to one side. "Has he told you about me?" she wanted to know. 

Kelly slowly shook her head. "No, I don't believe so," she answered. 

"Um, ok... Well." Cally looked at the ground, trying to gather her thoughts together. "Dustin and I were... dating some years ago," she said finally. "It was going pretty well. Except then I started getting bored." _Don't make me say it. _Please_ don't make me say it._

"You cheated on him." It wasn't a question. 

Cally winced a little. "Um, yeah," she replied softly, waiting for this woman, who was clearly a friend of Dustin's, to get mad at her. 

"Do you regret it?" Kelly questioned. 

Cally stared at Kelly. "Huh?" 

"You heard me." 

"Yeah, I regret it..." Cally said slowly, hesitatingly. 

"I thought you might," Kelly told her. "But, Cally, as well as being my employee, Dustin is also my friend... If you want to try getting back together with him, that's fine. But don't hurt him again. Understand?" Kelly held Cally's gaze with her own, waiting for the younger woman to reply. 

Cally nodded, this time not looking away. "I understand." _Not that Dustin would _ever_ want to get back together with me,_ she added silently. 

"Good." Kelly turned and went back to the counter, leaving Cally alone with her thoughts. 

After a few moments, Cally became aware of someone entering the shop behind her. But she didn't turn around until an amused voice said, "Well, well. Returned to the scene of the crime, have you?" 

Cally blanched, and took a step back. "What are _you_ doing here?" she demanded of her older brother, thinking, _Shoot. There's no way I'll be able to morph here if David decides to attack me. I _can't_ reveal my true identity. At least, not yet._

David raised his eyebrows. "Dustin's my friend," he reminded Cally. "Surely I'm allowed to see my friend? Unless, of course, you're trying to ruin his life even more." 

Brother and sister looked quite alike. Both had the same dark hair, though Cally's was quite a bit longer, and both had the same brown eyes and naturally tanned skin. David was taller and more muscular than Cally, though. 

"I am _not_ trying to ruin his life even more!" Cally hissed, fully aware of Kelly standing just a few metres away. She felt suddenly self-conscious, and really wished that there were other customers in the shop. 

"Then why are you here?" David demanded. 

"I went for a run, and it started raining, so I sheltered in here because it was the first shop I came to," Cally told her brother. "Not that it's any of your business." 

"You went for a run?" 

"Not _that_ uncommon an occurrence," Cally mumbled. "I _do_ go for runs, you know. And it seemed like such a nice day." 

"Don't you _ever_ listen to weather reports?" 

"You know I don't usually." For just a moment; it was like everything was back to normal again. The gentle teasing and everything. But Cally knew better. She had seen David the other day. Had heard him threaten to make her pay for what Dustin had suffered because of her.__

_And I can't say that I wouldn't try and defend myself against him should he suddenly decide to attack me. I already feel bad enough as it is._

"So... Where _is_ Dustin?" David asked. "Did you chase him away?" And, just like that, as though a switch had been thrown, things were back. 

"No, I didn't," Cally replied. "He's in the storeroom, I should imagine." A sudden thought occurred to her, and she asked, "Have you seen Faye at all?" 

"Not since yesterday," David answered. He stared hard at Cally. "Why? Are you afraid that I'm planning to harm her?" 

Cally couldn't answer, because, just as David's eyes locked onto hers, she felt something. It was like the violet light ranger could see a darkness inside her brother's soul. A darkness which shouldn't be there. It was in his eyes. With a start, Cally recalled the words Faye had said to her just after she had left the hospital after trying to kill herself:__

_You know, Cal, the depression inside you is a disease. It's like a darkness that doesn't belong there. But it does actually mean something else, too. I guess the darkness inside of you probably allows you to see the darkness inside others._

Cally had laughed then... But she wasn't laughing now. Because she was certain that she had just sensed darkness inside of her brother which didn't belong there. And then David spoke again, and the spell was broken. 

"You know, I meant what I said yesterday," David told his sister. "You'll pay for what you did to Dustin. Not yet, though. There's no sport in kicking someone when they're down."__

_He's not acting like himself,_ Cally tried to tell herself. _This isn't him._ Even so, staying near David when he was like this gave Cally the chills. Removing the coat Dustin had slipped around her shoulders, she walked over to Kelly. "Hi, could you please give this to Dustin for me?" she asked. 

Kelly took the coat with a raised eyebrow. "What was that all about?" she asked, clearly referring to the discussion between Cally and David. 

Cally tried to smile. "Sibling quarrel," she answered. "Nothing to worry about." And then, she left the shop, half afraid that David would follow her and feeling a curious mix of relief and disappointment when he didn't. 

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Cam scanned the Ninja Scrolls, biting his lip a little. 

"Is there something wrong, son?" Cam's father asked the green samurai ranger. 

"Not really," Cam admitted, still reading. "I'm just trying to find out more about the Light Ninja Academy. I figured that, considering the fact that it looks like we're probably going to be working with them, we should know more about them. And it wouldn't hurt to find out more about the Silk Ninja Academy either." 

"The Light Ninja Academy doesn't have as many students in it as the other academies," Sensei explained. "The ninjas in the academy are very carefully selected because of their personalities. They are trained to see other ways than fighting, but some of them prefer to fight anyway." 

"I should have originally thought to ask you," Cam muttered. "Is there any way that either of those two could have been corrupted by Lothor?" 

Sensei hesitated for a long moment. "I would say that it would be very unlikely from the actions of the two you have seen," he said at last. "But it is not altogether impossible. After all, darkness _is_ the opposite element to light." 

Cam nodded slowly. "Is there anything else you can tell me about the Light Ninja Academy?" he wanted to know. 

"There is one thing," Sensei answered after thinking for a moment. "But it is quite a rare ability, even among the Light Ninja Academy." 

"What is it?" Cam asked. 

"It is the ability to act as a sort of catalyst," Sensei explained. "Some have the ability to draw on the energy of other ninjas, even those not from the Light Ninja Academy, and use it to destroy an enemy. The disadvantage to this would be the serious weakening of everyone giving the energy, including the catalyst themselves. In some cases, it could even cause someone to fall into a coma." 

"It would still be a useful ability to have," Cam commented. "What about the Silk Ninja Academy? Do you know anything about that academy?" 

"Not a lot," Sensei admitted. "Then again, I _was_ busy with the workings of the Wind Ninja Academy. But, although silk is not an element, I do know that the ninjas of that particular academy are trained to use it as a weapon. In some ways, it is just as deadly as the weapons of other academies. It is material, so it is fluid and easy to move around and get through someone's guard. However, in itself, silk does not inflict much damage on an opponent, and it is easy to destroy." 

"Hm..." Cam said thoughtfully. 

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Cally let herself into the house, still shaking a little from her conversation with David. 

"Hey," Faye said brightly, coming out of the living room and into the hallway. "How did your run go? Did you get caught in the rain...?" Faye's voice trailed off as she took in the expression on Cally's face, and her eyes filled with concern. "Hey, are you ok?" 

"Not really," Cally admitted in a low voice. "I had to shelter in Storm Chargers because of the rain." And Cally explained to her friend everything that had happened, including the darkness she had sensed inside David. 

To her credit, Faye didn't say 'I told you so' to Cally. She just gently hugged her friend. "Hey, it's all right." 

"It's _not_ all right," Cally replied. "We never should have come back here, Faye. This place holds too many hard memories." 

Faye looked steadily at her friend. "Do you really want to leave?" she asked. "Leave David to the darkness inside of him?"__

_I ran away once before,_ Cally remembered. _I was a coward after I cheated on Dustin. I didn't even _try_ to make things right. Didn't try to make up with Dustin or apologise to him. I took the coward's way out. Can I really do that again? Can I really abandon someone _else_ I care about because I'm afraid?_

"It's your decision," Faye told Cally. "If you want to leave, we'll leave. With David gone, you're the decision maker." 

Cally opened her mouth to say what her decision was. 

Their communicators went off. 

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Read and review, please!


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Eleven**

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**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't own it. Never have, never will 

**RedFox:** -Looks at author- You know, you probably don't have to put a disclaimer at the top of _every_ chapter 

**Me:** I am _not_ going to risk being sued. I don't have any money at all. -Is still waiting for her Jobseeker's Allowance to come through... Stupid Jobcentre- 

**Author's Note:** I _will_ get up the next chapter of Is Love For Real? but I really wanted to write this chapter first 

Wow... Lots of reviews! -Huge grin- Well, they're a lot compared to how many reviews I usually get 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**Jorgitosbabe:** -Is deafened... Yet again- Lol. Glad you liked it 

**garnetred:** Actually, I considered having Cally decide to leave anyway... Anything to be contrary to what people expect . Except then it wouldn't work with the whole storyline, so... -Shrugs- 

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it 

**CamFan4Ever:** Ok, ok... I won't delete it. But you have to update Finding Your Love II. I really want to read more of that . Oh, and if you need a muse, DarkCat says that she'll come and help you out... Especially if you feed her 

**DarkCat:** -Nods- 

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Faye looked steadily at Cally, holding her hand over her communicator. "Well?" she asked. 

"Shouldn't we... answer that?" Cally wanted to know. 

"In a moment," Faye answered. "After all, Cal, if you want us to leave, there's not much point in us answering our communicators, is there?"__

_I_ can't_ make a decision like that,_ Cally thought to herself. She looked at Faye, and shrugged helplessly. "I... don't know," she admitted. "How can you expect me to make a decision like that?" 

"Because you have to," Faye replied. "No one else can make that decision _for_ you. It's quite simple, Cally. You can decide to leave, but that might be taking the coward's way out.. On the other hand, you can decide to stay, which, although it would mean that we'd probably end up being in constant danger, it _would_ enable us to try and help David and the other Power Rangers." 

"You're going all Zen on me," Cally muttered. She knew that Faye was right, though. She had to work out exactly where her loyalties lay. 

"Well?" Faye asked. 

Cally took a deep breath. _There's only _one_ decision I can really make._ She gestured towards their communicators, which were still beeping. "Shouldn't we see who's trying to get hold of us?" _And now, for better or worse, the decision has been made. There's no going back now. Not ever. And I guess I'll soon find out whether I made the right choice or not._

Faye smiled, and Cally knew that her friend had really wanted them to stay. That was good. At least _someone_ felt that they should stay.__

_If we _had_ left, would David had come after us?_ Cally wondered. Ordinarily, she would have said no... But after the darkness she had sensed inside her brother, she wasn't sure of anything anymore. That thought terrified her. She could come face-to-face with death a thousand times, and she would still never really get used to it.__

_It's like when I was a little kid, and I was scared of the dark because I thought that monsters lurked inside,_ Cally thought. _Only this time, the monsters are real. And there's no escape from them. You can either stay and fight them, or you can run away screaming like a coward and hide somewhere safe.___

_I've now chosen to stay and fight._

The violet light ranger's thoughts were interrupted by Faye speaking into her communicator: "Hello. The orange violet ranger here." 

"Oh, darn." Cally heard the mocking tones of the silver silk ranger, and winced. "I had really hoped that Cally would be the one to answer this call." 

Faye glanced quickly at her friend. "What do you want?" she demanded, turning her attention back to the communicator. 

Laughter echoed, raising the hairs on the back of Cally's neck. That laugh was _not_ a nice laugh.__

_But why are the two silk rangers acting like this?_ Cally wondered. _It seems rather... odd. I don't see why anyone would want to help Lothor. Unless, of course, the same thing that happened to David happened to those two... Which would be a very bad thing. If they _are_ under Lothor's control, how the heck could they be brought back to their senses?_

"Well, you two are obviously not going to leave town," the silver silk ranger answered. "Which means that you'll end up getting in our way. I gave Cally the chance to get away. I tried warning her. But she didn't listen."__

_If only she knew how close I really was to deciding to just give up and run away, taking the coward's way out._

Faye glanced at Cally. Clearly, she was waiting for the violet light ranger to decide what they were going to do. 

"You expect us to fight you?" Cally asked. 

"Well, duh," the silver silk ranger replied. "What else would I be wanting to do? Go out on a shopping trip? Not that the idea doesn't have its appeal, of course. Unfortunately, it's business before pleasure, as usual." 

Faye looked at Cally, silently asking what they should do. Even with Cally fighting at full strength, they probably wouldn't stand much chance against the two silk rangers. They'd already seen how good those two were. 

Cally covered her communicator. "Well, what do you think we should do?" she asked her friend in a low voice. 

"That depends," Faye replied. "But I'd say that, based on the decision you've just made, we don't really have any other choice but to fight them. If we're going to get involved in this fight against Lothor and his aliens, now would be as good a chance as any to start." 

Cally slowly shook her head. "But what if those two are _not_ working for Lothor?" she asked. "That's always possible. They could just be... free agents." 

"It _is_ possible," Faye agreed. "But very unlikely. At least, in _my _opinion it's very unlikely. Think about it, Cal. It's too much of a coincidence for them to just show up out of the blue, and then for evil David to show up the day after." 

_Evil David?_ Cally thought. _I guess that's a good description for how he's been acting at the moment._

"Well?" Faye asked. "What do you think we should do? I'll support whatever decision you make, but you need to decide quickly." 

Cally sighed a little. "I guess it... makes sense for us to answer the challenge," she muttered. "I don't particularly want to, though. There's something odd about the silk they use, Faye. It's certainly not ordinary silk. They must have done something to it to make it burn like it does. I've still got the bruises around my neck from when the silver silk ranger nearly strangled me. Even with the accelerated healing we get as Power Rangers, the bruises are still there. What if someone gets suspicious? Hunter doesn't _seem_ to know our true identities... But I could have sworn that he was conscious when David showed up. Which means that he could remember our identities later, and then, of course, he'd tell the other Power Rangers." 

"Is that such a bad idea?" Faye wanted to know. "It would be easier to help each other if we all knew each other's true identities. Our identities are the biggest secret we have. If we tell them, that means that we trust them." 

"Exactly," Cally replied. "I guess I... don't want to give away our identities until we know for sure that we can trust them. And, well, Hunter knows who I am. He knows that I cheated on Dustin. What if he refuses to help us because of what I did?" Cally glanced down at the scars she would always have around her wrists. A permanent reminder of what she had done, what she had become. 

"You have a point," Faye noted. "Ok. We'll keep our identities from the other Power Rangers. For now, at least. But, Cal, we _will_ need to tell them at some point." 

"I know," Cally whispered. She removed her hand from the communicator. "All right," she spoke into it. "We're on our way." 

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Hunter, Blake, and Dustin came into NinjaOps to find Cam, as always, sitting in front of the computer. 

"Hey, dude, what are you doing?" Dustin asked Cam, walking over to peer over the green samurai ranger's shoulder at writing on the computer screen that made no sense to him at all. 

"I'm trying to find out about catalysts," Cam replied absently, forgetting exactly who it was he was talking to. 

"Catalysts?" Dustin frowned. "Hey, dude, I don't mean to sound ignorant or anything... But what exactly are catalysts?" 

"Well, it's rather complicated," Cam answered slowly. 

"Um, aren't catalysts objects which speed up the reaction of experiments or whatever while remaining unchanged itself?" Blake asked. 

"Well, technically..." Cam began. 

"See, that wasn't so hard to explain, was it?" Hunter put in as he practiced some of his fighting moves. 

Cam turned in his chair to glare at the crimson thunder ranger. "You didn't let me finish!" he snapped. "True, Blake just said the definition of a catalyst... But that's assuming that the catalyst is an inanimate object." 

"So, dude, what you're trying to say is that a catalyst can be a living thing?" Dustin wanted to know. His expression registered confusion. "Wouldn't that be, like, impossible?" 

"It _should_ be," Cam said. "But it's not totally impossible. Haven't you heard any of those reports of people who can make electrical appliances go wild just by being near them?" 

"Yeah, but aren't most of those, like, fake?" Hunter questioned. 

"Most of them," Cam nodded. "But not all of them. According to my father, a very small amount of ninjas in the Light Ninja Academy are born with abilities similar to that of a catalyst - they can draw energy from others and add that energy to their own to destroy an enemy." 

"Whoa. _That_ would be a useful ability for someone to have," Blake commented. 

"Well, yes and no. You see, according to my father, those who have their energy drained end up really weak," Cam explained. "They'd probably end up really useless in another fight directly afterwards, and, in some cases, depending on how much energy is actually used, they could even end up in a coma." 

"Sounds kind of harsh," Dustin noted. "How long would the energy drain last for?" 

Cam shrugged. "I can't find anything to tell me that," he answered. "None of the sources I've found are very clear. I would say that it probably depends on a variety of different factors." 

"And you think that one, or possibly both, of these light rangers could have the abilities of a catalyst?" Blake wanted to know. 

"It's possible," Cam admitted. "If either of them _do_ have those abilities, though, I would assume that they don't know about it. Neither strikes me as the type to keep special abilities hidden if using them could aid in any way in a fight." 

"You got all of this just by meeting them on one occasion?" Blake asked. 

Cam shrugged a little. "Obviously, we'd have to get to know them better before we can formulate any true opinions of what their true personalities might be," he said. 

"Well, dude, what about that third light ranger you saw?" Dustin questioned Hunter. "You know. The white one." 

Hunter shrugged a little. "I told you, I don't remember much of the conversation that passed between those three," he replied. "No, scratch that. I don't remember _any_ of the conversation that passed between those three." 

"Did they seem like friends?" Cam wanted to know. 

Hunter thought for a long moment, and then slowly shook his head. "No," he answered, his tone sounding troubled. "It seemed like the white light ranger didn't care much for the other two... And I _know_ that there was something important about their conversation. Something which I told myself that I really had to remember... But it seems to be buried in the back of my mind, where I can't get to it." 

"We could always try using hypnosis?" Cam suggested. 

Before Hunter could reply, Blake cut in. "No," the navy thunder ranger said firmly. "You are _not_ going to try putting Hunter under hypnosis." 

"Calm down, Blake," Cam told the navy thunder ranger. "I wasn't seriously considering hypnosis as an option. But, Hunter, it would be a _really_ good idea to try and remember everything about that conversation." 

"That's what I've been trying to do," the crimson thunder ranger muttered. 

"So... When are you seeing Lila next?" Blake asked his brother with a grin. 

"Hm? Oh... Tomorrow night. We're going to go out for a meal." 

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Peter and Lila were waiting in the last place they had fought the two light rangers, both in their Power Ranger forms. However, the silver silk ranger was beginning to have some serious doubts which she could no longer keep hidden from her brother. 

"Peter, I really don't want to hurt the two light rangers," Lila finally burst out. "I don't know why. I just don't." 

Peter turned his helmeted head towards his sister. "We don't have a choice, Lila," he told the silver silk ranger. "We _have_ to put them out of action. They didn't leave town when you gave them the chance." 

"But maybe there's another way to put them out of action?" Lila suggested. "I'm worried about you, Peter. You're not acting yourself. Remember what we're really in this fight for? It's the only way to free our parents." _And why am I starting to think that Lothor can't be trusted?_

"I know," Peter said finally, his tone flat. That was one of the things he didn't like about his sister. She could always manage to bring him down to earth again. Though he was in fact the older of the two, sometimes Lila acted the more mature one. 

"And we still have to spar together so that I can get those trousers I wanted," Lila added, looking away from her brother.__

_And now it's back to less mature than me,_ Peter thought. He slowly shook his head. "We compete with each other too much," he told his sister. 

Though the brown silk ranger couldn't see his sister's expression, he could just imagine the grin that spread across her face at his words as Lila said, "You're only saying that because most of the time I win our bets." 

"Probably," Peter agreed. He was beginning to worry about him and his sister. It seemed like the more time the two silk rangers spent with Lothor, the more they started to act like the space ninja. 

_And that's probably not really a good thing,_ Peter knew. _Neither Lila or I are naturally evil. At the moment, we're going against our true natures. But we truly have no other choice. And it's not a large price to pay. The Power Rangers for the lives of our parents._ Peter kept trying to tell himself that. But he wondered just how long it would take before the price got too much for him and Lila to pay. 

"So... About the other way of taking the two light rangers out of action?" Peter gently prodded his sister. 

Lila told him, and, once she had finished, a grin spread across Peter's face beneath the helmet he wore. 

"All right," Peter told Lila in a low voice. "I'll distract them." 

"Hey, are you just going to stand around talking?" a familiar female voice yelled. "I thought you wanted us to fight?!" 

Peter glanced in the direction of the voice, and saw the violet and orange rangers standing there, close beside each other. He shot his sister a quick glance, hoping that this plan she had come up with would actually work. Lila had been right. They didn't _need_ to destroy the two light Power Rangers. Lothor hadn't really mentioned them at all. 

"Well, we don't have to fight just yet," Peter said in an oily tone. "Why don't you two tell me about yourselves?" 

The two light rangers exchanged glances, and Peter knew that they were both confused. Both wondering exactly what was going on. What the two silk rangers were up to. But Peter knew that they would not realise until Lila had carried out her part of the plan. And, of course, by then it would be too late. 

"No thanks," the violet ranger replied. 

Peter put a hand over his heart. "Oh, I'm hurt," he said mockingly. "Just because we're enemies, it's no call for us to be rude to each other." 

"Just fight!" the violet ranger snapped. 

Peter looked towards the orange ranger. "Don't you want there to be a peaceful situation to this whole conflict?" he asked mockingly. 

"Sometimes, fighting is the only way," the orange ranger replied softly. "I may prefer peace... But it does not mean that I am not willing to fight alongside my friends if the need arises."__

_Friends. She said friends. Clearly, that means that there is at least one other light Power Ranger. Wonder what happened to them._

Behind Peter, Lila slowly raised her blaster. This felt wrong. Shooting them while they were defenceless wasn't right. But it was either that or destroy the two light rangers outright... And, for some reason, Lila was no longer willing to do that. 

Lila fired. 

The shot caught the violet ranger in the chest, sending her hurtling backwards. As soon as the smoke faded, Lila and Peter saw that she was unmorphed and that there was a large crystal ball attached to her chest, pulsating with a sickly green light. 

Faye demorphed too, and ran over to Cally. "What did you do to her?" she yelled at the two silk rangers. 

Lila gave a small shrug. "Put her out of action," she replied, coming to stand next to Peter. "That ball will suck energy out of Cally the moment she morphs. The next time she uses her Power Ranger form will be her last. It will kill her." With those words, the two silk rangers streaked off. 

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Read and review, please! 

Whew... I can actually see an end in sight for this. I apologise to anyone who might think that I've rambled a bit with this. I wanted to explain about the whole catalyst thing


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twelve**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Author's Note:** I decided to try and finish off Roses and Thorns before I resume work on Is Love For Real? again... Hope no one minds 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**CamFan4Ever:** Yay, cookies! . Actually, I wasn't just talking about the catalyst part, but never mind . You can have DarkCat for as long as you want. I'm sure I can find a temporary muse to keep RedFox and DarkAngel from killing each other. Here ya go. -Picks up DarkCat and hands her over to CamFan4Ever- Now, she likes most kinds of fish, and communicates with mental pictures. Don't let her get sick. Oh, and she prefers water to milk, though she will drink milk sometimes if she feels like it 

**Jorgitosbabe** and **BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it 

Now, what muse can be a temporary replacement for DarkCat? Hm... -Thinks- 

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Peter watched as his sister came down the stairs, dressed in faded blue jeans and a slightly baggy T-shirt, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Then, he told her, "You are _not_ going to go out dressed like that!" 

"What are you, dad?" Lila shot back. "I'll go out dressed how I want to. There's nothing wrong with my clothes." She went into the kitchen to get some orange juice. 

Peter slowly shook his head. _Guess she's quite affected by what's going on at the moment. I kind of wish that it was over now. It feels kind of... nerve-wracking, I guess, wondering who we're going to end up fighting next. Still, at least Lila got what she wanted. We didn't destroy the violet and orange rangers, just put them out of action._

Peter walked into the kitchen, and watched his sister getting some breakfast as he stood in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. "Are you protesting?" he asked her. 

"No!" Lila snapped, banging the carton of orange juice down on the worktop. She growled a little as some of the liquid splashed onto the surface, and went and got some kitchen roll to mop it up with. 

"I think you are," Peter told Lila. "But why are you protesting, sis? We talked about this, remember? We both agreed to do this." 

"But maybe it wasn't the right decision to make," Lila muttered. 

"How _else_ will we be able to get our parents back?" Peter wanted to know. "We _have_ already talked about this. We've already talked about the pros and cons. We agreed that the price wasn't too high for us to pay." 

Lila looked at her brother. "Do you trust Lothor?" she asked. 

"No, I don't," Peter answered immediately. "Why do you think we're staying _here_ instead of actually on Lothor's ship? I don't trust that space ninja at all. But he needs us. He will keep his side of the bargain simply because he has no other choice." Even as he spoke, the brown silk ranger wondered just who it was he was trying to convince - his sister, or himself. 

Lila slowly shook her head. "But it would be so easy for him to just go back on our deal," she replied. "After all, once the Power Rangers are destroyed, there's nothing forcing him to keep his end of the bargain." 

"You don't want to destroy the Power Rangers." It wasn't a question. 

"I don't want there to be blood on our hands," Lila insisted. "What good is getting our parents free if we end up being killers? Is that too high a price to pay?" 

Peter hesitated for a long moment. Lila's argument wasn't lost on him at all. He could see precisely where she was coming from. But there was no way they could get around the agreement they had made with Lothor. No way to avoid breaking the agreement. And then they themselves would become targets.__

_There really _is_ nothing else we can do,_ Peter told himself. _Our parents would understand... Wouldn't they? They'd understand that we had no other choice._ But the brown silk ranger was clutching at straws, and he knew it. Still... 

"We don't have a choice," Peter told Lila. "We _have_ to destroy the Power Rangers. We were able to get around destroying those two light rangers because they weren't part of our agreement with Lothor. But we _can't_ do it again." 

"But..." Lila began. 

"If you can come up with a way of getting the Power Rangers out of action _without_ breaking our deal with Lothor, then do tell me," Peter cut his sister off. "But I'm sure you won't be able to. Which means that you have to decide something. Who's more important to you? Our parents, or the Power Rangers, who we don't even know?" 

Lila hesitated, but there was really no contest. She looked down. "Our parents," she mumbled, hating herself for saying that. But it was the truth. And surely the Power Rangers would understand why they would have to do that? Maybe Lila and Peter could even try and get Lothor to release the other ninja schools as well... 

No, that probably wouldn't work. Even if Lothor _did_ agree to free the other ninjas, which wasn't very likely, he'd probably get the two silk rangers to do something _else_ for him. It would be better this way. 

"Good," Peter replied. "I was beginning to think that you no longer knew what was truly important." His gaze traveled up and down his sister's body, and he frowned. "Meanwhile, you'd probably better get changed. I'm sure you've got something more fashionable to change into. That casual look really doesn't suit you." 

Lila stuck her tongue out at Peter. "I'll dress how I want to," she told her brother. 

"Where are you going today?" Peter asked. 

Lila shrugged. "Storm Chargers," she replied casually. She wasn't going to tell Peter what she was going to get in the shop, though. 

Peter raised his eyebrows. "Then you should really go and get change," he told Lila. 

"I am _not_ going there just to see Hunter!" Lila insisted. Not that she would _mind_ seeing him. But that wasn't her true purpose in going there. 

"Oh, really?" The tone of Peter's voice suggested that he didn't really believe Lila. "Then why _are_ you going to Storm Chargers?" 

"I'm not going to tell you," Lila replied. "It isn't any of your business." _Besides, it's not his birthday for a couple of weeks yet._

"Just go and change," Peter told Lila. "If you _do_ end up seeing Hunter, do you really want to look like that?" 

Lila hesitated for a long moment. Then, grumbling under her breath, she went upstairs to get changed, leaving the orange juice carton on the work top. 

With a sigh, Peter put the orange juice back into the fridge. 

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"Son, you should not work so hard," Sensei told Cam. "Surely you can have a break, at least for a little while?" 

"Well, I'd rather not, actually," Cam admitted. "I really want to try and find out more about this catalyst thing. It would be a very useful ability for the Power Rangers to be able to use." 

"But the ability is not all good," Sensei said. "If used unwisely, it could very well cause great destruction." 

"I know, dad," Cam replied. "That's why I'm trying to find out more about it. I'm trying to work out if there's a way to use it to the best possible advantage." 

"Possibly when there is a particularly dangerous foe that is very difficult for the Power Rangers to defeat," Sensei commented. "Fortunately, that is not all that likely to happen. Also, you do not know for sure if either of the two light rangers have that ability. It would not be a good idea to count it among your assets until you know for sure." 

"I know," Cam said. "But I still want to find out more about it." 

"What have you found out so far?" Sensei wanted to know. 

"Not a lot," Cam admitted. "I've found out some people who have had the ability of a catalyst. But there doesn't seem to be any kind of link between them. Also, some of them seem to have only had the abilities of a catalyst for a short time. There's not even a link between the ages. Old people along with younger people have had the ability." 

"It does not seem to be a gift that really cares about outward appearance or age or even experience," Sensei agreed. 

"Actually, there seems to be some kind of link between _some_ of these people," Cam said suddenly. "The ones who have only had the ability for a short time have been those who have used its power for evil, or for their own gain." 

"So it depends on what the gift is used for by the recipient," Sensei commented. "It will only allow itself to be used for the purpose of good." 

"But that makes no sense," Cam muttered. "An ability cannot pick and choose where it appears or doesn't. It would have to have a conscience for that. And _that_ would be technically impossible." 

"Yes, _that_ is impossible," Sensei said. "But perhaps the gift can actually be used up in some ways?" the guinea pig suggested. "Perhaps it is simply that using the ability for evil purposes uses it all up." 

"That's possible, I suppose," Cam replied slowly. "It seems a bit strange, but it probably would be possible." 

"And perhaps you could take a short break now?" Sensei asked, wishing that he was not trapped in the form of a guinea pig so that he could gently steer his son away from staring at the computer screen and put him to bed, just like he had when Cam had been a small child. Minus the steering him away from the computer, of course. He was pretty sure that his son hadn't been as obsessed with technology then as he was now. Then again, he could have been. He had to have gotten his love of computers from _somewhere_, after all. 

"In a moment," Cam replied, still studying the articles he had pulled up. "The details here are fascinating," the green samurai ranger added. 

Sensei sighed softly. "Son, if you still want to find out more about this catalyst ability, then program CyberCam to do that for you," he told Cam. "But you really must get some rest. You will not be any good if you are completely exhausted." 

"But..." Cam began, looking longingly at the screen. 

"Bed. Now," Sensei said firmly, using his teacher-voice, a tone that he rarely used with his own son. 

It had the desired effect. Almost immediately, Cam activated CyberCam, and told him what he wanted him to do. 

"Yeah, sure, no worries, dude," CyberCam replied, giving Cam the thumbs-up sign. "You go and get some rest. I'll finish up here for you." 

Cam hesitated for a long moment as CyberCam started reading the articles he had pulled up on the computer screen. Then, seeing his father's eyes on him, he quickly went into his room. 

He lay down on the bed, and was pretty soon asleep. And, as such, did not notice, or feel anything, when a tube slid painlessly into his arm. 

The green samurai ranger glowed with a soft green light as his energy was taken from him and drawn down the tube. 

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Hunter was helping his brother unpack some boxes in the storeroom. They'd been doing it for some time now, but neither of them were bored. Unpacking the boxes without Kelly around gave them the chance to talk. 

"Do you still not trust Lila?" Hunter asked Blake in a low voice. 

Blake hesitated for a long moment. Then, he shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I think, bro," he told Hunter. "It only matters that _you_ like her." 

"So... you think that I should, um, _date_ her?" Hunter wanted to know. 

Blake rolled his eyes. "Bro, haven't I been saying that all along?" 

"I guess..." Hunter replied slowly. "Just that I'm not totally sure that I _want_ her to become my official girlfriend." 

"So why don't you just take it slow?" Blake suggested. "See what you both want. But you both like each other, so..." He shrugged. 

"It's just that the whole thing with me being a Power Ranger means that I'm going to have to keep a huge secret from her, though," Hunter admitted. "However close we get, there's always going to be a wall between us." 

"You might find that you need to tell her," Blake told Hunter. "Then again, you might not need to. We could defeat Lothor soon, and then there will be no need for you to keep any secrets from her at all."__

_Maybe Blake's right,_ Hunter thought to himself. _But I can't tell her about my identity as a Power Ranger, of course. I'll just have to hope that I can come up with enough excuses for having to keep on disappearing off, possibly during our dates, and hope that she doesn't get suspicious or think that I might be seeing someone else._

"Anyway, it's your decision, bro," Blake told Hunter. "I can't make it for you. But you should date Lila if that's what you really want to do." 

"You're just saying that so that you can double date with Tori," Hunter muttered. 

"Yeah," Blake grinned. "That would be cool, wouldn't it? But that's not the only reason I think that you should date Lila, though," he added. 

Hunter opened his mouth to say something, but, at just that moment, Dustin walked into the storeroom. 

"Hey, dude, Lila's here," the yellow wind ranger told Hunter. "I figured I'd come and help Blake out here cos I thought that you might want to see her." 

The crimson thunder ranger shot his brother a glare as Blake snickered, then walked out of the storeroom and into the main part of the shop. When he was gone, Blake and Dustin gave each other high-fives. 

Lila was standing looking at the helmets with her lower lip caught between her teeth, probably thinking about which one she should get for her brother. She was wearing a black skirt to just below her knees with a white blouse and black high heels. 

Hunter walked over to Lila. "Hey," he said. "Need help?" 

Lila turned to smile at Hunter, though both automatically avoided making eye contact. "Actually, yeah," she admitted. "I'm trying to work out what kind of helmet to get Peter. I don't know what sort he might like." 

"Hm." Hunter's eyes flickered over the helmets, though his mind was actually on what he and Lila were going to do that evening. "Why don't you just bring him in on his birthday and let him choose one for himself?" he suggested. 

Lila pouted a little. "I wanted it to be a surprise," she replied. 

Hunter grinned. "That's why I suggested doing it _on_ his birthday," he said. "You don't have to tell him where you're taking him at all." 

"Hm..." Lila looked thoughtful. 

"Are we still on for tonight?" Hunter asked after a moment. 

Lila beamed, and nodded vigorously. "Yeah," she answered brightly. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."__

_Good._ Hunter relaxed somewhat, and allowed his fingers to brush against the back of Lila's hand. "I'm looking forward to it," he told her. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Cally knelt in front of the toilet, throwing up. She felt awful. Her chest hurt, she felt really weak, and now she was feeling sick. 

The violet light ranger couldn't manage anything more than a small amount of water. Forget morphing. She wasn't about to try. Just the _thought_ of using her morphing abilities made her feel even more ill. 

Faye was holding Cally's hair out of her way, a worried look on her face. She was concerned about her friend. The strange object implanted in her chest seemed to be causing some sort of reaction inside the violet light ranger's body.__

_Why did they do it?_ Faye wondered. _They could have killed us... But they didn't. All they did was prevent Cally from morphing. Prevent her from doing _anything_, it seems. What _is_ that crystal ball-type thing?_

"Hey, are you all right?" Faye asked softly. 

"No, not really," Cally admitted in a low voice before throwing up again. She grimaced at the acid taste in her mouth. There wasn't anything left for her to actually throw up. Only stomach acid, which left a foul taste in her mouth. 

"Do you want me to get you a drink of water?" Faye offered. 

"Ugh." Cally made a face. "I feel similar to that time that I got really drunk, and had a hangover the next morning. Only, this time I feel really weak... And, as far as I remember, I didn't do _any_ drinking of alcohol last night." 

"No, you didn't," Faye agreed, rubbing her friend's shoulders. "It's that thing inside your chest that's making you feel like this." 

"It won't come out," Cally muttered. "It seems to be embedded into my skin." 

"You tried to pull it out?" Faye was alarmed. 

"It's all right," Cally replied in a soft tone. "I didn't try _too_ hard. But it's well and truly... embedded into my skin. I don't think that there's anything left for me to throw up," she added. 

"You want to try something to eat?" Faye wanted to know. 

Cally shook her head firmly, and then winced and pressed her hands to her forehead. "Even the _thought_ of food makes me want to be sick." 

Faye pulled Cally's hands away from her forehead, and pressed the back of her own hand against the hot skin. "I think you've got a temperature." 

"Oh, sure," Cally replied, sounding a little sarcastic but also really tired. "I have everything else. Why shouldn't I have a temperature too?" 

Faye bit her lip. "We really need to try and get that crystal out of your chest," she mumbled. 

"Hey, I'm not allowed to play with knives, remember?" Cally's eyes were hard. "Wouldn't using a knife on my chest enable me to die more easily? Actually, never mind. Use one anyway." 

Faye stared at her friend in shock. _She doesn't mean it,_ she tried to tell herself. _She's really sick, so she's going to say things that she doesn't really mean... Right?_ But Faye still felt chilled, and she really wished that David was still with them. Cally's brother had used to care about his sister a lot, and Faye was sure that he still did, despite his cold words to the violet light ranger. His feelings had to be buried deep down inside himself, though. 

"What's wrong?" Cally tilted her head to the side. 

"I..." Faye swallowed hard and tried again. "You don't really... mean that, do you? You don't really want to die." 

"I _do_," Cally admitted. "But you don't have to worry, Faye. I won't try and take my own life again." 

"I hope you don't," Faye whispered. "I couldn't continue being a Power Ranger if I was the only light ranger left." 

Cally blinked several times, and then wiped a hand across her eyes. "Faye, I should probably go back to bed," she told her friend. "Make me some toast, ok? Who knows, I might be able to swallow something later." 

Faye nodded slowly, and helped her friend to stand up. "But you're going to have to have that crystal removed," she said. "It can't stay inside you. It'll kill you." 

"Don't worry," Cally replied softly. "I'll go to NinjaOps, and see if someone there will know how to remove it." 

Faye stiffened. "Cal, you _can't_ do that!" she insisted. "You'll end up revealing your true identity to them." 

"I don't have a choice, Faye," Cally said. Her eyes were dark and distant and filled with a deep pain. "You were right. We'd never be able to work with the other Power Rangers if we don't trust them inexplicably. And I _can't_ leave this thing inside me. It'll make me weak and useless, and we don't even know if it won't kill me anyway." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

The dinner out hadn't been a great success. 

Hunter felt slightly amused as he thought back on it. Lila had started to sit down, and had then jumped up screaming because there was a spider right above her head. She had sheltered behind Hunter, and had flatly refused to sit there because she was worried about the spider dropping onto her head. 

Hunter looked down at Lila, and slowly shook his head. _I'd never have thought that she was frightened of spiders. Still, I guess that everyone's got to be frightened of _something 

Hunter had ended up having to ask the waiters to please move them to a different table. He was sure that they had been amused by his explanation that the woman he was with was terrified of the spider on the ceiling, but they _had_ found another table for Hunter and Lila, and had promised to get rid of the spider. 

Hunter and Lila were just walking along the streets now. Neither of them had had to ask to know that they weren't quite ready to part company yet. By unspoken agreement, they had just started walking randomly, close to each other but never actually touching.__

_Well, I'm _definitely_ attracted to her,_ Hunter thought to himself. _And I'm pretty sure that she feels the same way about me... But what if she doesn't?_

Neither had drunk much wine at all at dinner, so there was no chance of one or both of them being drunk. Which meant that they would remember everything that had occurred between them.__

_And I _really_ don't want to make a fool of myself._

Just then, Hunter's came up with a mental image of Blake telling him that he should just get on with it and not worry about the consequences, and he had to laugh. 

Lila glanced up at Hunter. "What are you laughing about?" she wanted to know. 

"Oh, just something that my brother said to me," Hunter replied. 

"Oh." Lila looked down, and shifted her weight a little, feeling suddenly shy for apparently no reason. 

Hunter looked carefully at Lila, and finally decided to just go for it. He'd probably end up regretting it forever if he didn't. 

The crimson thunder ranger lifted Lila's chin, and then, before she could do or say anything, his lips were on hers. 

For just a moment, Lila stood frozen in shock. Then, she was kissing back, her arms slipping around Hunter. She felt gentle hands stroking her hair and back as they continued to kiss. 

Finally, Hunter pulled away. He gently pulled Lila closer to him, and tucked her head under his chin, content to just hold her. 

"Well... That was unexpected," Lila said finally, raising her head to look at Hunter but not pulling away from him. 

"Was it unpleasant?" Hunter wanted to know. He held his breath, waiting for the reply. 

Lila quickly shook her head. "No, of course not," she answered. 

Hunter hesitated for a long moment before asking, "Would you like to come back to my house with me?" 

Lila stared at him. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Ok, I'm leaving it to you readers to decide what Lila does . If she goes back to Hunter's place, they will probably have sex, which I will write as a separate fic. But it's up to you readers. 

I apologise to anyone who thinks that I made Hunter act out of character... But it has to do with something that I heard about on a video I watched quite recently. 

Anyways, read and review, please!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Thirteen**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Author's Note:** Ok, Lila _does_ go back to Hunter's place... But nothing really happens... Well, it doesn't! 

Oh, I have a temporary muse! He's a character from one of my original stories, a dark angel called Apollo who was originally a light angel but he got turned bad cos of torture and now likes causing mischief 

**RedFox:** So, remind me again why we had to have _him_? 

**Apollo:** -Says in a soft tone- Because I'm the only one who was able to come on such short notice 

**DarkAngel:** -Is hiding from Apollo behind the author- He's scary! 

**Replies to reviews:**

****

**garnetred:** Well, you're partly right... 

**BlueAngel07:** Yeah, I agree . Except then, of course, there's the whole Lila being one of the silk rangers problem... -Innocent look- 

**CamFan4Ever:** Good, thanks. -Smiles- I hope she helps you out. Glad you liked the last chapter 

**Jorgitosbabe:** Well, you'll have to wait and see -Evil grin- 

**RedFox:** -Glares at Apollo- 

**Apollo:** -Looks steadily at RedFox- Was there a problem? 

**RedFox:** -Grumbles, but remains silent- 

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Lila looked up at Hunter. "Um, ok," she said, a little nervously. _It's not like I've got anything better to do. And, besides, going with Hunter is probably going to be quite... interesting, to say the least._

"Great." Hunter smiled, and slowly released Lila. For a moment, he wondered if he had made the right decision in kissing her. But he couldn't worry about that now. For better or worse, he and Lila were now technically together. 

Hunter dropped a light kiss onto the top of Lila's head, and started walking. After a moment, the silver silk ranger followed him. 

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Hunter let himself into his house, holding the door open for Lila. 

Lila stepped into the hall, glancing around. "No one else in?" she asked, noting the quiet. 

"Well, my brother's the only other one who lives here," Hunter answered. "And he's out on a date with Tori."__

_No parents?_ Lila wondered. She didn't say anything out loud, though. She didn't think that it was really any of her business. 

Lila followed Hunter into the living room, where they sat down on the sofa next to each other. 

"You want a drink or something?" Hunter asked. 

"No, I'm all right," Lila replied, placing her hands in her lap. "You think maybe we should talk about... what just happened?" 

"If you didn't like what I did, then I apologise." Hunter's expression was unreadable. 

"I... didn't say that I didn't like it," Lila said in a low voice. 

The crimson thunder ranger watched Lila carefully. At least she had decided to come back to his house with him. That was something. 

"So... What would you do if I kissed you again?" Hunter wanted to know. _Whoa. Talk about being blunt._

Lila gave Hunter a slightly startled look. "I... wouldn't mind," she admitted after a moment's hesitation. 

Hunter reached out to gently lift Lila's chin, and he kissed her gently on the mouth, cupping the back of her head with a gentle hand. 

Lila felt a kind of tingling feeling spread over her entire body, almost like pins and needles, only much more pleasant. She kissed back, her hands slipping down to clutch reflexively at his shirt. 

After a few moments, they pulled back from each other to get some air. Hunter's hands stroked over Lila's hair and back, and the two just sat in silence, neither of them feeling the need to speak. 

"Are you _sure_ you don't want a drink?" Hunter asked after a few moments. 

Lila smiled up at Hunter. "No, I'm fine," she insisted. "I'm not thirsty. But I don't mind if you want to go and get a drink or anything." 

"I'm all right," Hunter replied. "I was just wondering about you." 

Lila rested her head on Hunter's shoulder. She was rather surprised, and a little scared, at how quickly she had come to care for Hunter. It wasn't something she had expected to happen. 

Hunter idly traced his fingers down Lila's arm, his expression thoughtful. 

"I'd probably better get going," Lila said slowly. She didn't particularly want to leave, but it _was_ getting quite late. If she stayed for much longer, it would be too dark for her to see her way home. 

"You know, you don't _have_ to go back to your house tonight," Hunter told Lila. "You could just stay _here_ for the night. It would make more sense." 

Lila looked at Hunter, her expression slightly worried. 

"We have a guest bedroom," Hunter quickly added. 

Lila smiled at that. "I'd love to stay," she replied. "Can I please use your telephone to just call and let my brother know where I'm going to be?" 

"Yeah, sure," Hunter answered. "The phone's just in the hallway." Hunter watched Lila as she walked into the hall, then sighed and looked at the ceiling. _Man, I never expected _this_ to happen. Not even anything close. I'm really attracted to Lila, and I just want to spend time with her. Is this what Blake feels with Tori? I'll have to ask him._

A few moments later, Lila came back into the living room, and smiled at Hunter. "I'm good to stay," she told him, sitting down next to him again. "But I have to warn you... I am _not_ a morning person. You'll probably have to drag me out of bed. That's what Peter does." 

Hunter laughed, shaking his head. "No way," he replied. "I don't particularly want to end up dragging a wildcat out of her bed." 

Lila began to laugh at that. "I should tell Peter that," she commented. "It would probably be a good thing for him to refer to me as." 

"Glad to be of help," Hunter smiled. 

"So... What do you want to do?" Lila asked Hunter after a few moments of silence. 

Hunter gave a soft laugh. "If you're looking for us to do something, you'll have to stay round another night as well," he said. "I'm completely exhausted." _What with that fight with the tentacled alien and trying to remember just what it was the three light rangers said to each other... Not to mention then having a couple of full days working at Storm Chargers._

"Will your brother mind me staying round?" Lila asked. 

"Blake?" Hunter shook his head. "No, he won't," he answered. "He _had_ been pushing for me to tell you how I feel about you, after all." 

"Same with Peter." Lila gave a light laugh. "I did try to tell him that I wasn't going to Storm Chargers just to see you, but I don't think he believed me." 

Hunter chuckled a little, and then leaned over to give Lila a light peck on the lips before standing up. "Come on," he said. "Might as well show you to the room." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Cally lay between waking and sleeping. She was drifting, just drifting, her mind playing over the memories she had stored deep inside. Her mind was too active for her to sleep, but she felt too ill to get up and do anything.__

_Maybe I'm delirious,_ Cally thought to herself. _Maybe, when I wake up, I'll be in a hospital with a doctor telling me that there are really no such things as Power Rangers.___

_That_ hadn't been a worry that had bothered Cally since she had first received her morphing abilities. Or maybe that was now? The violet light ranger wasn't sure of anything anymore. 

Cally's mind flashed on the day that Dustin had discovered her cheating on him with someone else. Had that really happened yet, or was that still waiting to happen?__

_I wish that Dustin could know how sorry I am for how I hurt him.___

_FLASH._ Sitting in a room with a counselor. The woman was holding a clipboard and was asking Cally loads of questions, trying to find out exactly why the teenager had tried to kill herself. But Cally was as close-mouthed with her as she was with everyone else.__

_FLASH._ Cally in the bathroom, holding the kitchen knife she had gotten from one of the drawers.__

_FLASH._ Dustin kissing Cally.__

_FLASH._ Cally attempting to do a somersault through the air, but failing because she was really scared of heights.__

_FLASH._ Cally explaining to Dustin, David, and Faye that it was all a question of balancing one's weight.__

_FLASH._ Dustin discovering that Cally was cheating on him.__

_FLASH._ Dustin, Faye, and Cally receiving their morphers. 

The crystal embedded in Cally's chest began to glow with a soft violet light, and the violet light ranger slipped into a coma. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Cam came to with a headache and a dry feeling in his mouth. He got himself a drink, but didn't feel a whole lot better. Which was _not_ what was supposed to happen. Sleep was supposed to make you feel better, not worse.__

_It feels like I had energy pulled out of me while I slept,_ Cam thought to himself, frowning. _But how is that possible?_

"Feeling any better, son?" 

Cam glanced up to see his father standing in the doorway. Immediately, he tried to force a smile onto his face. "I'm feeling... fine," he replied. The last thing he needed was for his father to insist on him going back to bed. "Did CyberCam find anything else out?" he wanted to know. 

Sensei slowly shook his head, a very weird action on a guinea pig. "No, unfortunately," he answered. "There doesn't seem to be _any_ link between the catalysts other than the one you already discovered." 

Cam thought for a moment. "Maybe it's linked somehow to genes?" he suggested. "I can check to see if the catalyst ability runs in families or whatever." It was a slim chance, but it was the only theory Cam could think of. Then, of course, he'd have to know the true identity of the two light rangers so that he could see if their family had the catalyst ability or not. 

"You can do that later," Sensei told Cam firmly in a tone that brooked no argument. "You have been spending too much time on the computer lately, son." 

Cam grimaced slightly. So much for his father not noticing his condition. He almost said that he didn't think it was related to him spending time on the computer, but stopped himself. What could he say that he thought it might be? His father would probably just think that he was making excuses. 

"Hey, is there anyone around?" The green samurai ranger recognised Dustin's voice, and moved into the main room before the yellow wind ranger took it into his head to start playing around on the computer or whatever. 

"Hey, Cam," Dustin grinned. "Wow. Must be the first time I've entered NinjaOps to you _not_ working on the computer." 

"My father made me stop to get some rest," Cam replied shortly. "According to him, I've been spending too much time on the computer." 

"Well, dude, you are, like, on the computer just about all the time," Dustin pointed out. "I thought that the whole reason you created CyberCam was so that you wouldn't have so much work to do." 

Cam rolled his eyes. "No, Dustin, that was so that I would be able to devote more of my time to being a Power Ranger," he corrected. 

Dustin shrugged a little. "Same difference." 

Cam raised his eyebrows. "So did you come in here just to argue with me, or was there another reason?" he wanted to know. 

"There was another reason." Dustin lost his smile, and his expression turned serious. "Did I tell you about Cally?" 

Cam nodded slowly. "I think so," he answered. "Wasn't she the one who cheated on you?" 

Dustin nodded, and then explained about what had happened between him and Cally the other day. "And then, she left, and David came into the shop," he added. 

"David?" Cam frowned a little. 

"Cally's older brother," Dustin explained. "I know that he and I were quite good friends... But that was no reason for him to start seeming to hate Cally." 

"What do you mean?" Cam asked. 

"Well, he wasn't really acting like himself," Dustin told Cam. 

"Well, he probably seemed a bit strange because you haven't seen him for a while," Cam replied. 

Dustin slowly shook his head. "Cam, it seemed like David was trying to tell me that it was all right for me to hurt Cal," he said to the green samurai ranger.****

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**RedFox:** -Glares at Apollo- This whole coma business was _your_ fault!****

**Apollo:** -Only smiles- Yeah, it was, wasn't it? Oh, well. Looks like Cally is going to pay for what she did to Dustin****

**DarkAngel:** -Says really quickly, still hiding behind the author- Read and review, please!


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Fourteen**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**RedFox:** -Sighs- We've given up on telling her that she doesn't need to write disclaimers at the top of _every_ chapter 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**garnetred:** Well, it's not an ordinary problem Cally has... But you'll have to wait for the explanation, I'm afraid . I'm glad you like Cally. I suppose it _is_ love between Hunter and Lila... Did I go onto that too fast? -Worried-****

**Jorgitosbabe:** Yup, I'm evil . I actually like making my characters suffer... A lot. Lol 

**CamFan4Ever:** Well, she originally wasn't going to fall into a coma... 

**DarkAngel:** -Points at Apollo- It's _his_ fault! He's an evil muse 

**Apollo:** -Stares at DarkAngel- 

**DarkAngel:** o.o Eep! -Hides behind the author- 

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it 

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Lila wasn't entirely sure where she was when she woke up the next morning. Certainly not in her own bedroom. 

Lila sat up in the bed, and then remembered the events of the previous night. She blushed a little as she remembered her and Hunter kissing. That had been unexpected, but it hadn't been unpleasant.__

_What time is it?_ Lila wondered. Her eyes tracked towards the morpher she always wore around her wrist, even when she slept and showered. _Like that's going to help me... It doesn't have the time on it at all. Hm, I wonder if Hunter saw it at all? It shouldn't matter if he did, I guess. He'll just think that it's an odd-looking watch._

Lila caught sight of the clock on the bedside table, and her eyes widened. _7 am? I _never_ wake up that early! Hm... I suppose the clock could be wrong._

Whatever. Lila decided that she had better get up now. She was pretty sure that Hunter hadn't left at all, because she could hear movement downstairs. 

Lila got out of bed, and slipped her clothes on. Hunter had lent her a T-shirt of his to sleep in which had been way too big for her. Then again, that had probably been a good thing. 

Lila put her shoes on, and then left the room she had been sleeping in and walked down the stairs. She could smell cooking, and her nose twitched as her stomach rumbled a bit. She was quite hungry, what with all the fighting she and her brother had been doing lately. Which reminded her... 

_I_ really_ need to figure out a way of taking the Power Rangers out of action without actually destroying them..._

Lila made her way into the kitchen, where she saw Hunter. 

Hunter flashed a smile, and came over to kiss Lila on the cheek. "You're up early," he noted. "Breakfast will be ready soon. I was just trying to work out whether I should come and risk attempting to get you out of bed to have some breakfast." His tone was teasing, and his eyes were playful as he kissed Lila again, and then went over to carry on with the cooking. 

Lila smiled a little. "I guess me getting up early was down to the fact that I spent the night in a strange house. I'm sure that my stomach thinks that I'm neglecting it," she added. 

Hunter smiled at Lila. "Well, it won't do for much longer." He watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye. _Are we official? She didn't try to push me away or anything when I kissed her, so that's a good sign._

"Can I help out at all?" Lila wanted to know. She felt awkward just standing around doing nothing. 

"No, I've pretty much got everything covered," Hunter replied. "Anyway, you're a guest. You don't have to do anything here... Just so long as you don't complain about my cooking," he threatened with a grin. 

Lila returned his smile, feeling relaxed for what felt like the first time in a long while. _If this is what love is, it's great. I wouldn't change it for the world. Mind you, when I imagined falling in love, I never pictured someone quite like Hunter..._

"Where's your brother?" Lila asked out loud. 

"Sitting at the table waiting for the food," Hunter answered. "It's my turn to cook this morning." 

"Will he.. be surprised to see me?" Lila wanted to know. She wouldn't know what to say to Hunter's brother, who she had only seen a few times. Then again, she'd only seen Hunter a few times too... 

"Nope," Hunter reassured her. "I already told him that you were here. He didn't seem very surprised about it, to be honest. Or didn't I mention that he was the one trying to get me to ask you out on a proper date?" 

"You really know how to make a girl feel good about herself, Hunter Bradley," Lila complained, leaning against one of the work tops. She mock-pouted. "I'll start thinking that the only reason we're even together is because your brother pushed you into it." 

Hunter glanced up, and saw the challenging look in Lila's eyes. Never being one to turn down a challenge, he came over to her and kissed her on the mouth, arms slipping around her to hold her tightly.__

_Wow,_ Lila thought giddily. 

Hunter finally pulled back from Lila to look deep into her eyes. He smiled, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Are you convinced now?" 

"Hm." Lila pretended to think about it before saying, "Yes." 

Hunter smiled, kissed Lila on the cheek, and then returned to the food. "Go into the other room," he told her. "Breakfast shouldn't be too long away now." 

Despite Hunter's words, the silver silk ranger still felt nervous as she walked into the other room to find Blake Bradley sitting at the dining room table. 

"Hi," Blake greeted Lila cheerily. "Did you sleep well?" 

Lila nodded, thinking, _He's acting like this is a common occurrence where Hunter is concerned... Does Hunter often bring girls back to his house?_ Lila found that she didn't like the idea, especially because it suggested that Hunter maybe didn't like her as much as she liked him and wanted to be with her. After all, he hadn't actually said anything about them being official. 

After a few moments, Hunter came into the dining room carrying three plates with fried breakfasts on them. He put one in front of Lila, smiling a little as he said, "I hope you like fried breakfasts." 

Lila nodded. "I like them well enough," she answered vaguely before starting to eat. 

Hunter lost his smile, and he stared at Lila, wondering what had just happened. She seemed to be almost... cold towards him, and the crimson thunder ranger had no idea why. It couldn't be because she was feeling nervous around Blake, could it? 

Hunter caught his brother's eye, and realised that Blake had sensed it too. The two brothers exchanged worried glances before starting to eat. 

The tension in the air was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. From time to time, Hunter shot a glance at Lila to see that the teenager was just staring at her plate and not eating very much.__

_What's wrong with Lila?_ Hunter wondered. _She's acting _really_ strangely._

As soon as he had finished, Blake said that he had a date with Tori and got up and left after shooting his brother an apologetic look. 

When he had gone, Hunter looked at Lila. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" he asked softly. 

Lila looked up, her eyes snapping with anger. "How many?" she demanded. 

"Huh?" Hunter was confused. 

"Oh, don't pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about!" Lila snapped. "I heard Blake. He didn't seem surprised at all that I'd spent the night here!" 

"But that was because..." Hunter began. His voice trailed off, and he stared at Lila as he realised just what she was getting at. 

"Obviously, you've brought other girls home with you," Lila continued, her voice sounding strained. "I want to know how many." 

"_That_ is not any of your business," Hunter answered, his voice cold. "But you'll be the last." 

"Liar!" Lila flared. She knew that she was probably making a fool of herself, but she didn't care. She was too angry. 

"If that's what you think, then you can just leave." Hunter's eyes and tone were like ice. "Then, when you realise the truth, you can come and apologise to me and beg for my forgiveness. I care about you much more than you seem to realise." 

Lila stared at him. Then, she got up and ran out of the room. After a moment, Hunter heard the front door slam shut. He then buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. 

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_Cally came to lying in a clearing. She looked around, wondering just what she was doing there. The last she remembered, she was in her bed trying to get to sleep but not succeeding because of how ill she was feeling.___

_"Where am I?" Cally asked out loud in an attempt to break the silence. No such luck.___

_The violet light ranger glanced around the clearing, taking in the flowers. She could smell their tropical, heady scent which made her head swim. Moonlight was reflected off the surface of a small pool._

Well, it doesn't _seem_ like I'm dreaming,_ Cally thought to herself._ It seems too real. Too vivid. And I've _never_ been able to smell things in dreams before.__ _But if she wasn't dreaming, then where was she?___

_Cally glanced down at her chest, and was relieved to see that the crystal seemed to have gone. Here, at least, anyway. The scars on her wrists from where she had tried to kill herself had faded somewhat, but there were still some faint marks._

Am I dead?_ Cally wondered. That seemed the most likely possibility, other than the fact that she was going mad. The latter wouldn't be very surprising. Cally had often wondered just how strong her grip on sanity was. After all, attempting to kill yourself wasn't something a sane person would do, was it?___

_After a few moments, Cally heard a faint rustling through the trees behind her. She took a step backwards, fear flaring inside her for just a moment.___

_A unicorn stepped through the trees. Its gaze flickered over the violet light ranger before it went to the pool and lowered its head to drink.___

_Cally quickly revised the dream possibility. Unicorns did not exist, after all._

Oh, no? Then why is your zord a unicorn?_ a small voice asked inside Cally's mind, which the teenager ignored.___

_Eventually, the unicorn stopped drinking, and raised its head to look at Cally. "Hello," it said.___

_"H-hello..." Cally stammered.___

_"What are you doing here?" the unicorn wanted to know. It sounded mildly curious.___

_"Dreaming," Cally replied, adding silently, _I hope.__

_The unicorn blinked. "Dreaming?" it repeated. "You are not dreaming."___

_"But I _must_ be!" Cally said desperately. "If I'm not dreaming, then I must be going mad. I'd much prefer the former."_

_"You are not dreaming," the unicorn told Cally. "Neither are you mad. But you _are_ here for a reason."_

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"Bro, are you all right?" Blake asked Hunter softly later. 

"No," Hunter admitted. He looked up at Blake. "I'm sorry," he added in a low voice. 

"Hey, bro, it's not your fault," Blake replied, sitting down on the bed beside his brother. "You couldn't have known that Lila would react like that." 

Hunter looked down. "I should have had _some_ idea," he berated himself. "And I shouldn't have reacted the way I did." 

"Hunter, you are not in the wrong," Blake told the crimson thunder ranger. "Lila is. If she can't deal with the fact that you have had other girlfriends, then she doesn't deserve to be with you." Blake had really wanted to hurt Lila when he had found out about the argument she and his brother had had, but Hunter had persuaded him not to. The navy thunder ranger was still angry, though. 

Hunter gave a soft sigh, his expression saying quite clearly that he did not believe his brother. 

"Do you want to go into Storm Chargers?" Blake asked. 

Hunter slowly shook his head. "I don't feel up to it," he said. "I'm sorry. Please give Kelly my apologies." 

Blake hugged his brother gently. "Hey, it's going to be all right," he told Hunter. "Sleep on it. Things will look better later." 

"Thanks, bro," Hunter murmured. 

Blake smiled slightly. "Hey, dude, you're my brother. I know you'd do the same for me." 

Hunter nodded slowly, though he still looked sad. 

Blake hugged his brother once more, then got up. "Are you sure you'll be all right on your own?" he wanted to know. 

Hunter smiled. "Just go," he told Blake. "I know that you really want to see Tori. I'll be fine on my own." 

Still, Blake hesitated. "If Lila comes into Storm Chargers..." he began. 

"You will leave her alone," Hunter interrupted. "Kelly will not thank you for beating up her customers. Now will you just go already?" 

Blake left. 

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Faye shook Cally's still form, and stared, her eyes wide. Cally _couldn't_ be like this! Her illness hadn't been _that_ bad... Had it? 

Cally lay with her eyes closed. She was breathing, and had a pulse, but Faye couldn't wake her up. 

The orange light ranger felt fear flood her entire form. She _couldn't_ lose Cally! Not after David turning evil. 

Faye felt a couple of tears trickle down her cheeks, and she didn't bother to wipe them away. Now what could she do? Cally appeared to be in some kind of coma... But she couldn't take her to the hospital with that crystal embedded in her chest. The doctors would ask all sorts of awkward questions, and there was no way Faye would be able to answer those without giving away their true identity as Power Rangers.__

_I wish David was here,_ Faye thought to herself. He might have been furious with Cally, but the last time she had been in hospital, David had been there to comfort Faye and to field any questions from the hospital. Like, why Cally had tried to kill herself in the first place. But now, Faye was on her own.__

_I've never been very good at making decisions,_ Faye knew. _Leadership isn't something I'm any good at. And now, my two closest friends are in trouble, and I have no idea how to help either of them!_

Faye angrily dashed her tears away. Crying wasn't going to help her any. It would just hinder her. 

"Cally, you _can't_ die on me," Faye whispered. "I can't stand risking losing you again." 

Much as she tried to tell herself that it wasn't, Faye knew that there was only one possible way of saving Cally. She had to take her friend to the other Power Rangers' headquarters, revealing their true identity to the Power Rangers there. 

Faye took a deep breath. Grabbing Cally, she ran off towards NinjaOps, going more slowly because of the extra weight she carried and because she didn't want to seriously damage the violet light ranger. 

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Read and review, please! 

Ow... My ankles really hurt. My trainers have been rubbing, and I had to wear them all day today. Wah! _Please_ review? -Pleading look-


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Roses and Thorns**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Replies to reviews:**

****

**garnetred:** Well, I figured that I'd write a scene where Lila becomes jealous, and came up with that. Lol. As for Cally? Well, you'll have to see****

**CamFan4Ever:** Something surprise or shock you? Lol... 

**Jorgitosbabe:** -Is deafened... Yet again- Wow... Glad you liked it 

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it -Smiles- 

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_Cally stared at the unicorn. "What... Are you talking about?" she demanded._

_"You're here for a reason," the unicorn repeated.___

_"But... How is that possible?" Cally asked, thinking, _I_ must_ be going mad. Something like this wouldn't exist in real life. Or maybe I'm just so ill that I'm getting delirious.__

_"This is the Forest of Feelings," the unicorn explained. "You are here because you have become trapped within your feelings, which have grown too strong for you to handle."___

_"I don't know what you mean," Cally frowned.___

_"Yes, you do," the unicorn told the violet ranger. "You just don't _want_ to understand what I'm talking about."_

My feelings of guilt for cheating on Dustin?_ Cally wondered. _I suppose that's possible..._ Out loud, the violet ranger asked, "Who are you?"___

_"I'm one of the unicorns who live in the forest," the unicorn answered. "We unicorns act as guides for those like you who get trapped here. The other animals cannot necessarily be trusted."___

_"How do I get out of here?" Cally wanted to know.___

_"You have to find the gate that leads back to your body," the unicorn replied.___

_"You mean there's more than one gate?"_

_"Of course," the unicorn said. "Whenever someone gets trapped here, a gate is created for them to get back to their body which they have to find."___

_"So all I have to do is find the gate that leads back to my body?" _Well, it _sounds_ easy... But since when has anything in my life been _easy_?__

_"It's not that simple," the unicorn told Cally._

Oh, _there's_ a surprise, _Cally thought to herself. She looked at the unicorn. "No, I didn't think it would be," she replied. "What else do I have to do?"___

_"Certain challenges," the unicorn explained. "If you fail one, it will cost you your life."___

_"Cheery thought," Cally muttered. "Can I use my morphing abilities here?"_

_"Morphing abilities?" The unicorn sounded confused.___

_"Well, I'm a Power Ranger," Cally said slowly.___

_"Ah." The unicorn nodded slowly. "There are quite a few Power Rangers who come here."___

_"There have been other Power Rangers come here?" It was Cally's turn to be surprised.___

_"Of course," the unicorn answered. "Power Rangers seem particularly susceptible to having their feelings overwhelm them. It's because of all the responsibility they have despite the fact that they're so young."_

_"Well, that makes sense," Cally said slowly. "I'm really glad I'm not the only Power Ranger to get trapped here... So, _can_ I use my morphing abilities in this place?"_

_"You may use anything that might give you an advantage," the unicorn replied. "But abilities like morphing, because you weren't born with them or acquired them on your own, as long as you stay morphed, you will use up a lot of your energy."___

_Cally nodded slowly. "I understand," she said. "Are you to be my guide in this forest, then?"_

_"Yes. But I may not aid you in the challenges."___

_"Ok. Then let's go," Cally said. She wanted to get out of this place as quickly as possible._

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Blake walked into NinjaOps, an angry look on his face. 

Cam looked up, a tired expression on his face. "Something wrong, Blake?" he asked the navy thunder ranger wearily. 

"Yes!" Blake snapped. 

"Blake, whatever is wrong, you are not going to be able to deal with it by snapping at people," Sensei told him. 

"Sorry, Sensei," Blake muttered. "It's just... Lila and Hunter." 

"Why, what's wrong with them?" Cam wanted to know. 

"Well, that's the problem," Blake answered. "There probably isn't going to _be_ a them. Lila seems to think that Hunter just brings girls home all the time and doesn't truly care about her." He shrugged a little. "They got into a huge fight, and Lila stormed out of the house, leaving my brother feeling completely miserable." 

Cam blinked. "Wait a moment," he said slowly. "Lila stayed round your house last night?" 

"She slept in the guest room," Blake replied quickly. "It was just that it was quite late when she was ready to leave, so Hunter suggested that she stay the night." 

"Perhaps she is frightened of commitment?" Sensei suggested, reminding the two Power Rangers of his presence. 

"That's _one_ possibility," Cam agreed. 

"That's still no excuse for her to treat my brother like that!" Blake said sharply. "It was cruel and unnecessary." 

"Um, excuse me?" a female voice said hesitatingly. 

Blake and Cam glanced towards the entrance of NinjaOps, and saw a blonde-haired girl half-carrying half-supporting another dark-haired girl who appeared to be unconscious and seemed to have a glowing crystal pressed against her chest. 

"Who are you?" Blake demanded. 

"The two light rangers," the teenager explained. "I'm Faye, and this is Cally." She indicated the one she was holding. 

Blake frowned. "The same Cally who cheated on Dustin?" 

Faye glared. "She _is_ sorry for it!" 

"There is no need to get annoyed," Sensei told Faye. "He was merely asking a question." 

"Well, I don't have time for questions," Faye replied. "Cally's in trouble." 

"And you brought her _here_?" Cam asked. 

"It was the only possible way," Faye explained. "She has this... thing inside her chest that's really harming her." 

"Put her in the same place you put Hunter," Cam said to Faye. "I'll take a look at her in a little while." 

"She doesn't _have_ a little while," Faye told the green samurai ranger. "She's in a coma." 

Blake immediately thought of just leaving Cally alone and letting her suffer. After all, he had seen how her actions had affected Dustin. But Blake couldn't in all honesty condone doing something like that. After all, the other Power Rangers had forgiven him and Hunter for working for Lothor... He knew full well how feeling bad for something you had done felt. But what Cally had done hadn't been because she had been deceived or anything. She had simply _decided _to hurt Dustin like that. 

"Why haven't you taken her into the hospital?" Cam asked. 

"With _that_ thing sticking out of her chest?" Faye gestured towards the crystal which Blake and Cam could now see seemed to be embedded in Cally's chest. "Don't be silly. The doctors would ask all sorts of awkward questions, and I'm no good at fielding questions like that. Cally was conscious last night, though she was really ill, and she talked about coming here to see if anything could be done. Only then, this morning..." Faye's teeth clamped hard on her lower lip in an attempt to stop it from trembling. 

"How did it get stuck in her chest?" Cam wanted to know. 

"The silk rangers called us," Faye explained. "The brown one was talking to us... And then, the silver ranger shot that thing at Cal. Almost immediately, she started feeling really ill and weak. According to the silk ranger, she couldn't morph because it would kill her." Faye looked steadily at Cam. "The third member of our group appears to have been turned evil somehow... I _can't_ lose Cally as well. You _have _to help her!" The last words were a plea. 

Cam remembered Dustin's words about Cally's brother. Could David be the third light ranger? Dustin himself had said that David wasn't acting like himself. 

"_Please_?" Faye begged. 

"We should tell the others," Blake told Cam. "See what they think. We should really make this decision as a group." 

"You _can't_ tell the others!" Faye cried. 

"What is your reason for saying that?" Sensei asked the light ranger. 

Faye looked down. "It's something that we'd only reveal if we really trusted a person," she murmured. "We've been forced to reveal our identities to _you_... But you can't ask us to reveal our true identities to others." 

"Dad, what should we do?" Cam asked the guinea pig. 

"That is for you to decide," Sensei told his son. "I cannot tell you what you must do." 

"It's only for a short time," Faye pleaded. "Just give us until we have this thing sorted out with the third member of our group... Please?" 

"What do _you_ think?" Cam asked Blake. 

The navy thunder ranger shrugged. "They brought my brother back here when they could have just left him," he said slowly. "We probably owe them. I say that we keep their identities secret, at least for the time being." _I'm not used to keeping secrets from my brother, though. This had better be worth it._

Cam nodded, and looked at Faye. "We'll keep _your_ identities secret," he told her. "But you have to keep our identities secret as well." 

"Who would we tell?" Faye indicated Cally's limp form. "Where can I put her?" she wanted to know. "She's kind of heavy." 

Cam shrugged. "The rec. room," he answered. "At least that means that if any of the others come in here, they won't immediately know about you two." 

Faye nodded, and Blake came to help her move Cally into the rec. room and place her carefully on the bed, his expression unreadable. 

Cam followed them in, holding a metal scanner. He moved it over the light ranger's body, and then examined the readings with a frown. 

"What's wrong?" Faye asked worriedly. 

"I'm not entirely sure," Cam answered. He folded Cally's top up in order to examine the glowing crystal more carefully, feeling slightly nauseous. He wasn't a lot better himself. The feeling of weakness had actually gotten worse. A part of him wondered if it was somehow connected to Cally's coma, but he pushed that idea aside. It probably wasn't very likely. 

The crystal appeared to be about half-embedded into Cally's skin, but it wasn't a very big crystal. The skin around it wasn't swollen or red or anything like that either. It looked very much like a piercing, only people weren't pierced there. 

"Well, what do you think?" Faye demanded. 

"I'd be able to concentrate much better if you didn't keep on distracting me," Cam muttered. The crystal was hard, and the portions of glow that fell on flesh seemed almost to sink into the skin. 

Blake's eyes traveled towards Cally's wrists, and then he stiffened slightly. "What are those marks on Cally's wrists?" he asked Faye. 

Faye followed the navy thunder ranger's gaze, and then looked away. "She tried to kill herself," she replied in a small voice. "It was just after we'd received our morphing abilities... David was treating her really badly because of her cheating on Dustin, and Cally kind of just snapped. She ran upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom... And then I realised that she'd taken one of the kitchen knives with her." 

"What did you do?" Blake wanted to know. He was curious. From what he had heard of her, Faye seemed to prefer peace to violence. Probably because she had been taught that way, though Cally seemed to be more anxious to get on with fights. 

"I morphed," Faye answered simply. "I then broke the bathroom door down. I wasn't quick enough to stop her from actually slitting her wrists, but I was able to get her to hospital on time." She frowned a little. "David showed that he still cared about her then... He was worried, more worried than I've _ever_ seen him before. The whole time she was in hospital, he just paced the area. He couldn't keep still." 

"Which is why you find it so hard to believe that he's trying to hurt you and Cally?" Blake asked. 

Faye nodded. 

Cam frowned to himself. _Hm... The coma doesn't _seem_ to be directly related to the crystal in Cally. But then what could be causing the coma she's in? Could it be a self-inflicted one, or is it one that she's been forced into by something? Lothor, perhaps?_ Then again, Cam couldn't imagine his uncle being able to do something like that. So, self-inflicted seemed to be the more likely answer. 

"So... Are either of you two catalysts?" Cam asked absently while he studied Cally. 

Faye blinked. "What?" she asked. 

Quickly, Cam explained about the catalysts. 

When he had finished, Faye started to shake her head. Then, she frowned.__

_So... Hunter technically knows the identity of these three light rangers,_ Blake thought to himself. _Apart from the fact that he doesn't actually remember them. But could he have heard anything _else_ important?_ Blake would have asked Faye... But he didn't think that she would remember the conversation, especially after seeing how worried she was about Cally. Blake was pretty sure that he would be in the same state if something like that happened to Hunter. 

Cam turned to Faye when she didn't answer. "No?" 

"I..." Faye began. She closed her eyes for a moment. "Ordinarily, I would have said no... But the other day, Cally slipped into meditation, and pulled energy out of me." 

"Why would she do that?" Cam frowned. 

"I... don't think I should say," Faye replied. "It's something that's quite... private." She gave an apologetic shrug. 

Blake frowned, knowing that if he leaned on Faye to tell them, she would... But he decided that it wasn't really that important. 

"So, it's possible," Cam said slowly. 

Faye shook her head. "It's highly unlikely," she insisted. "This was in a meditative state. Chances are, someone with a catalyst ability would be able to do it _without_ being in a meditative state. Even if Cal _does_ have the capacity for that ability, she probably won't be able to learn how to do something like that. Not quickly, anyway." 

Cam nodded. "You're probably right," he said. 

"What have you found out?" Faye demanded, indicating Cally's still form. 

"The coma seems to be almost self-inflicted," Cam explained. "We'll have to wait for her to come out of it on her own. And I'll need to find out how to go about removing the crystal from her. The best thing you can do is to take her back to your house and make her as comfortable as possible. I'll contact you on your morpher if and when I find out anything." 

Faye nodded slowly. "Thank you," she replied sincerely. Grasping Cally's body, she streaked out of NinjaOps. 

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David was leaning against the counter, talking to Kelly, when Dustin came out of the storeroom. 

"Hey, David," Dustin smiled, pleased to see his friend again even if he _was_ acting strangely. 

"Hiya Dustin," David replied, pushing himself away from the counter, flashing a smile at Kelly who didn't look very impressed. 

"What's up?" Dustin asked. 

"Oh, not much," David smiled, but it wasn't a particularly nice smile. "Spoken to my sister at all?" 

"Not since the last time," Dustin answered. "She hasn't been near here." 

"Good." David stretched a little. "Tell me if she does, all right?" 

"David, don't you think that you're taking this a little too far?" Dustin asked tentatively. "I _know_ that Cally cheated on me... But you're acting like you don't even care about what happens to her anymore. No, scratch that. You're acting like you want me to hurt her." 

"I'm not acting," David responded. 

Dustin slowly shook his head. "I'm not in the habit of beating up people," he said. "Especially not girls." 

David shrugged a little. "I could do it for you," he offered. 

Dustin frowned. "No, I'd really rather you didn't," he told David. "She seems to be sorry for what she did to me." 

David tilted his head to the side. "And is that enough?" he wanted to know. 

"Not at the moment," Dustin admitted. "But that's because what she did to me still hurts. Give it time, and I'll maybe be able to forgive her." 

As Dustin turned to tidy one of the shelves, David's face suddenly blanched. One hand went to his forehead as images flashed through his mind. 

But, as suddenly as they had appeared, the images vanished again. When Dustin turned back to David, the latter's face was completely composed.__

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_Cally and the unicorn walked through the forest side by side._

_"Always look in front of you, no matter what happens," the unicorn warned the violet light ranger. "Once you start looking away from the path, you risk becoming lost here forever, a mere wraith unable to escape and forced to drag others into your hellish existence."___

_Cally nodded slowly. "I understand," she replied. "I'll try to keep my eyes on the path ahead of me."___

_"Don't try," the unicorn responded. "_Do 

_Inwardly, Cally sighed. She somehow got the feeling that her guide didn't particularly care much for people, especially when the unicorn had heard about the fact that she was a Power Ranger. "Yes, I will," she said dully._

_"Good."___

_The two continued walking in silence, each apparently caught up in their own thoughts. Well, Cally was. She didn't know about the unicorn._

I wonder what's going on where my body is?_ Cally thought. _I wonder if Faye's all right. And what about the two silk rangers? Could they have attacked Faye? Could David have? She won't stand a chance against any of them. I _know_ her weaknesses. Faye isn't a fighter. She prefers to find a peaceful solution to anything.__

_Actually, if Cally was honest, she didn't think that the silk rangers, at least, would attack Faye. They had seemed to just want to take the two light rangers out of action. And Faye wasn't likely to go looking for them.___

_Cally gave a soft sigh, and looked down at the morpher on her wrist. She wondered, not for the first time, if she was truly worthy of the powers of the violet light ranger. It was not lost on her that her zord and emblem was a unicorn. Unicorns were pure creatures, and Cally wasn't actually pure. She wasn't pure at all, in fact. The fact that she had cheated on Dustin was proof of that.___

_It took Cally a few moments to realise that the unicorn was starting to head towards the trees. Somehow, she knew that the moment the unicorn left the path, the lovely creature would be lost forever... And Cally would fail.___

_"STOP!" Cally yelled.___

_But the unicorn didn't turn.___

_Cally tried to work out how to get the unicorn to turn back. She ran dozens of different scenarios through her mind, discarding all of them.___

_Suddenly, an idea occurred to the violet light ranger. "Light Storm, Ranger Form!"___

_Cally morphed to her ranger form, and, almost immediately, felt a wave of weakness spread through her body. But she ignored it as she yelled, "STOP! I command you as the violet light ranger, holder of the unicorn zord." She could not say how she knew the words to say. She just somehow knew them._

_Instantly, the unicorn halted. After a moment, it turned and trotted back to Cally, then butted its head gently against her chest.___

_"Ninja Form," Cally gasped into her morpher. She then all but collapsed against the unicorn. "_Please_ tell me that was one of the challenges?" she begged.___

_"It wasn't, unfortunately," the unicorn replied. "It was me being careless. Come. We should resume our journey." The two set off again._

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Read and review, please! 

Also, could reviewers _please_ come up with ideas for challenges that Cally could complete? -Pleading look-


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Sixteen**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**RedFox:** Hi guys! DarkAngel and I managed to persuade the author to give Cally some help in the Forest of Feelings! 

**DarkAngel:** -Mumbles- Once she developed a crush on the actor, it was relatively easy for us to persuade her to bring his character into the fic 

**Apollo:** The author apologises to anyone who might think that she made this particular person act out of character... She's only seen three episodes with him in, so she's guessing at a lot of this 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**garnetred:** Any ideas as to what the challenge involving David could actually be? And thanks for your suggestions and also reviewing! 

**CamFan4Ever:** Hm... That gives me an idea. -Quickly scribbles down on a piece of paper- So... Which bits shocked and surprised you? And are you taking good care of DarkCat? 

**Jorgitosbabe:** I'm glad that _someone_ has faith in me... I hope I live up to your expectations 

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it 

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_"You know, I'm confused about something," Cally commented to the unicorn as they walked beside each other.___

_The unicorn glanced at the violet light ranger. "What are you confused about?" it wanted to know. "Tell me, and I'll help you out, if I can."___

_"Well, how did I get you to turn back from entering the trees?" Cally asked. "I mean, it was like I knew, deep down inside, what I had to say... But I don't know _why_ it worked."___

_"Well, each Power Ranger has an animal zord," the unicorn explained. "Those animals can be controlled by the particular Power Ranger who has the zord."___

_"I don't understand," Cally frowned.___

_"Well, put it this way," the unicorn replied. "_Your_ zord is the unicorn zord, is it not?"___

_Cally nodded slowly.___

_"That means that you can control unicorns," the unicorn told the violet light ranger. "The other Power Rangers control the animals which are _their_ zords."___

_"Oh," Cally said. "I guess that makes sense." She made a mental note to pass that information onto Faye if she ever got out of this forest.___

_The unicorn glanced curiously at the violet light ranger. "No exclamations of surprise?"___

_"After everything that's been happening lately, not much surprises me now," Cally admitted. "Since I became a Power Ranger, _nothing_ has been normal."___

_"Yes, I'm sure that being a Power Ranger _is_ sometimes difficult," the unicorn replied._

Bit of an understatement there,_ Cally thought to herself. _I wouldn't change it for the world, though. At least I can be of _some_ use that way._ Out loud, she asked, "Have you acted as a guide for any other Power Rangers?"___

_"I shouldn't really tell you that," the unicorn answered.___

_"Oh, ok," Cally sighed. _It might have helped to know about the _other_ Power Rangers... But _not_ knowing isn't the end of the world. I just wish I knew how Faye and David are doing.__

_Cally suddenly became aware of the fact that she could hear a soft whimpering sound to the side of her. The violet light ranger glanced towards the sound, narrowing her eyes slightly to peer through the gloom, as it was beginning to get dark._

Too bad being a light ranger doesn't mean that I can see in the dark,_ Cally thought to herself.___

_Gradually, Cally could make out the form of a small animal struggling in something metal, possibly a trap.___

_Slowly, Cally made her way over to the struggling creature. It appeared to be some kind of wildcat. Cally knew, without looking behind her, that the unicorn was following her.___

_Cally studied the wildcat carefully, really wishing that she had a pair of gloves with her. Hurt animals, especially wild ones, were vicious._

_After a moment's hesitation, Cally reached out to the wildcat. Then, she recoiled with a soft cry and bleeding fingers as the wildcat lashed out at her.___

_"Why don't you just leave it?" the unicorn suggested.___

_"I _can't_ just leave it," Cally muttered, sucking on her bleeding fingers. She carefully studied the situation in front of her.___

_"Hey, maybe _I_ can help?" a male voice from behind the violet light ranger asked.___

_Cally turned, and found herself face-to-face with a blond-haired man. She blinked, and her eyes narrowed as she took in the unicorn standing beside him. "Who... are you?" she asked.___

_The man held out a hand. "My name is Andros," he answered.___

_"I'm Cally," Cally said, gripping the other's hand. Then, her eyes widened. "Wait... You're the red space ranger, right?"___

_Andros inclined his head slightly. "I am," he replied.___

_"But you... I mean." Cally took a slight step back. "What are you _doing_ here?"___

_"The same thing as you, I should imagine." Andros gestured towards the wildcat caught in the trap. "Now, do you want my help with freeing this animal, or don't you?"_

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"So, do you think that Faye and Cally can be trusted?" Blake asked, leaning over Cam's shoulder while the green samurai ranger studied the Ninja Scrolls. 

"I find it interesting that you probably only asked that because of who the light rangers actually are," Cam commented without looking up. 

Blake rolled his eyes. "Forget _why_ I asked it," he replied. "Just tell me what you think." 

Cam hesitated for a long moment. "I think that we _can_ trust them," he said finally. "Faye, at least, seems concerned only for her friend's safety. I can't really speak for Cally, but it _seems_ like she can be trusted." 

"After what she did to Dustin?" Blake frowned. 

"I'm not trying to condone her actions _then_," Cam replied. "I'm talking about _now_." 

Blake just sighed. "I just don't know if we _should_ help them," he muttered. "But if _you_ think that they can be trusted..." The navy thunder ranger shrugged. 

Cam glanced up. "And what happens if we _don't_ help them?" he questioned. "The violet ranger, Cally, could possibly die... Then Faye would probably be mad that we didn't help out." 

"True, I guess," Blake sighed. "What have you found out?" 

"Not a lot," Cam admitted. "It _looks_ like the coma's Cally's in _isn't_ caused by outside means... But I couldn't say for sure." 

"But what _else_ could have caused the coma?" Blake wanted to know. "Got any ideas?" 

"Not really," Cam replied. "Nothing that I've read so far seems to mention _anything_ about what might be wrong with Cally." 

"So what if she _is_ in a self-inflicted coma?" Blake asked. 

"Then all we can do is wait for her to come out of it on her own," Cam answered. "And look for a way to remove that crystal from her chest. Though I don't believe that the coma is actually related to it, it won't be helping Cally at all." 

"Can _I_ do anything to help?" Blake wanted to know. 

_Yes, you can stop breaking my concentration,_ Cam thought to himself. He felt even worse, if that was possible. He was sure that this feeling of tiredness and weakness wasn't normal. But, out loud, he replied, "Well, you _could_ look through some of the Ninja Scrolls... But you might not recognise or understand any information that you _do_ find." 

"Oh, ok. I get it," Blake said. "I'll leave you to do it on your own, shall I?" 

Cam nodded vaguely, his attention already caught up in the scrolls again. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

"Lila, you're an idiot," Peter said from the doorway of his sister's room. 

"Go away, Peter," Lila responded without looking up. She felt strange deep inside, and her throat hurt. She felt as though she was going to start crying at any moment. The last thing she wanted was for her brother to start having a go at her. 

"No, I won't, Lila," Peter replied, sitting on the chair next to Lila's bed. "You're hurting, sis. I don't know anything about it other than that you yelled at Hunter. Why did you argue with him? I thought that you liked him." 

"I _do_," Lila muttered. _I_ really_ wish that Peter would just leave me alone. I feel bad enough as it is._

"So... What's the problem, then?" Peter wanted to know. He didn't understand his sister's train of thought at all. 

"Hunter's taken other girls back to his house before," Lila replied with a shrug. 

Peter blinked. "What's the problem with _that_?" he asked. Then, his eyes widened. "You're jealous!" he exclaimed. 

"So what?" Lila demanded. "The fact is, he's brought other girls back to his house. How do I know that I won't be just like those others?" 

"You _can't_ know for sure," Peter told her. "But do you trust Hunter?" 

"I don't know," Lila admitted. "Besides, I don't even know if he'll accept any apology that I try to make." 

"I'm sure that he will," Peter replied. "As long as you _are_ sorry, that is." 

Lila looked down. "I just don't know anymore," she whispered. "About anything, I mean. Peter, how do you think the violet light ranger is?" 

Peter frowned at that. "She's probably all right," he said hesitatingly. "In any case, there's nothing we can do about her now. If the crystal _is_ harmful to her, she'll have to fight its effects on her own." 

"But..." Lila began. 

"No buts," Peter interrupted his sister. "We're here to do a specific task, Lila. If you want to date Hunter, that's fine. But _never_ forget what we're _really_ here for." 

"I won't," Lila said in a small voice. "But, Peter, I'm beginning to have serious doubts about this."__

_Me too,_ Peter thought. But he would never admit that out loud. If he did, then he would start to question whether or not he and his sister should really be working for Lothor. And he couldn't do that. Not now, not ever. "We don't have any other option," he told his sister. 

Lila looked down. "I know," she replied. "But, Peter, what if we become friends with any of the Power Rangers unmorphed, and then find out their identities? Could we really destroy people that we care about?" The look in Lila's eyes pleaded for her brother to understand. 

Peter hesitated. _Shoot. I never even _considered_ what we'd do if something like that were to happen. It's not very likely... But it _is_ possible. I hope that we _never_ have to make a decision like that._ "We can't worry about that, Lila," Peter said out loud. "If that _does_ happen, we'll talk about it then... But, to be honest, the chances of that actually happening are very slim indeed." 

"But shouldn't we discuss it _now_?" Lila questioned. "So that we have some idea, at least, as to what we can do." 

"No, we _won't_," Peter replied firmly. "Lila, I'm in charge of you. I've been looking after you since Lothor took our parents. You _have_ to trust me." 

"I _do_," Lila insisted. 

"Then _act_ like you do," Peter snarled. "We _have_ to get our parents back, no matter what the cost." 

Looking at her brother, Lila wondered if the price was not already too great. Perhaps he should never have become a Power Ranger. All of the power seemed to have gone to his head. Maybe there _was_ a way to shake him back to earth, but Lila couldn't think of one just yet. 

In any case, Peter was right. He _had_ taken care of her since their parents had been taken by Lothor. Without him, Lila would have been lost. She _was_ good at making her own decisions, but not when it came to matters of life and death. Then, she was perfectly content to sit back and let someone else take charge. 

Still, Lila couldn't quite shake the feeling that what they were doing was actually wrong. That this price was too much for them to pay. She felt, for some reason, that trying to work _with_ the other Power Rangers would be a much better thing to do. 

But Lila wasn't strong enough to go against her own brother. For now, she would stay back and follow orders and hope that Peter would soon see that he was not necessarily making the right choices.__

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_Cally watched Andros for a long moment, biting her lip. _Can I _really_ trust him?_ she wondered. _I _know_ that I need help with this wildcat... But supposing he's been created as one of my challenges and I have to see through him?__

_Cally glanced at her unicorn, but didn't have much hope of getting the animal to tell her if Andros was telling the truth or not. Even if she _could_ force the unicorn to tell her the truth, she wouldn't do it.___

_Cally's gaze then flickered towards the other unicorn standing beside Andros. The presence of a unicorn suggested that this really _was_ the red space ranger standing in front of her... But what if the unicorn was not a unicorn at all, but was just an enchantment? How could she tell the difference?___

_Cally resisted the urge to smack herself in the forehead. Of course! She could control unicorns, couldn't she? If this really _was_ a unicorn with Andros, then she would be able to get it to do anything she said. Of course, that was all assuming that _her_ unicorn had spoken the truth._

_Andros folded his arms. "You know, neither of us have forever here," he told Cally. "You either want my help or you don't. What's your decision?"___

_"Just a moment," Cally murmured. She looked steadily at the unicorn standing beside Andros. "As the violet light ranger, I command you to come to me."___

_Immediately, the unicorn walked close enough to Cally so that its head butted her chest.___

_Andros raised his eyebrows. "You gonna tell me what that was all about?" he questioned.___

_"Oh, yeah," Cally replied. "See, my zord is a unicorn... So, apparently, that means that I can control unicorns."___

_"Ah, I see." Andros nodded. "You figured that if I wasn't really real, then the unicorn with me wouldn't be real either, and it wouldn't follow your orders."___

_"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Cally admitted.___

_"Smart move," Andros smiled. He gestured towards the wildcat still struggling to free itself. "Shall we look at this little one?"___

_"Oh, sorry," Cally said quickly.___

_"No need to apologise," Andros replied dryly. "I can understand your need for caution. In this place, hardly anything is what it appears to be."___

_Looking again at the wildcat, Cally could see that one of its back legs were caught in the metal 'teeth' of the trap. She could probably pry the trap open, but she would get savaged by the animal if she tried.___

_"Well, what do you think?" Andros asked.___

_Cally chewed her bottom lip, thinking. "Could you, maybe, try and distract the wildcat while I attempt to free it?" she asked._

_"Well, I can _try_," Andros said. He knelt carefully just out of the range of the wildcat's teeth, pulled out a blade of grass, and started trying to get the animal to go for the grass.___

_As soon as the wildcat's attention was diverted, Cally bent to inspect the trap. She could see a small gap where she could pry it open, but the blood on her fingers made the metal slippery and she couldn't get a good grip.___

_Finally, Cally's unicorn spoke up. "Why don't you just remove the leg caught in the trap?" it suggested.___

_Cally flinched at the cold-hearted words. "No way!" she protested.___

_"But surely it is better for it to survive?" the unicorn asked.___

_Gritting her teeth, Cally shook her head. "That would be _no_ survival," she said. "Missing a limb, the wound would soon become infected, and that would be a slow, painful death. I can hardly see this wildcat staying still while I bound up its wound. It'll be bad enough to do after it getting caught in a trap._

We_," Andros corrected without looking up.___

_"All right, we." Cally wiped her bleeding fingers on her trousers, wincing a little at the pain. Then, she slipped her fingers into the gap, and pulled.___

_It was just as well that Cally had the added strength of being a Power Ranger, otherwise she probably never would have been able to pry the trap open. As it was, she managed to get the trap open just a couple of inches.___

_Lightning-quick, Andros grabbed the wildcat before it could make off into the trees. He winced as it slashed at his hands and arms, but kept a tight grip on it.___

_Cally straightened up, and tore some of the material of her top off in order to make a long strip. She then walked over to Andros and the wildcat. "Try and keep its jaws away from me," she said.___

_Wincing slightly, Andros grasped the cat's head and turned it away as Cally tied the cloth around its leg. "There. That's the best I can do."___

_Instantly, Andros let the cat go, and it leaped away from him and sped into the trees.___

_"Are you all right?" Cally asked the red space ranger.___

_Andros nodded. "I'm fine," he replied. He eyed Cally carefully. "I think that we should talk," he said after a moment._

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Read and review, please!


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Seventeen**

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic 

**Apollo:** -Sighs- Again with the disclaimer... 

**RedFox:** Well, she never listens to us when we tell her that one disclaimer per story is plenty 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**garnetred:** Ooh, idea! -Grins- Thanks! Well, you'll find out why Andros is there in this chapter 

**CamFan4Ever:** Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad that DarkCat is happy. I hope you do update FYL II soon... I really don't like cliffhangers. Why do you think I rarely use them? (Technically, if I _do_ use them, it doesn't count cos I'm updating pretty much every day or every other day... Proof that I have nothing else better to do. Lol. I'm sad, I know) 

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it! 

**Jorgitosbabe:** As always? Maybe that's going a little too far... Lol. Anyways, thanks for reviewing! 

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_Cally blinked at Andros. "Um, sure," she replied, a little cautiously._ I wonder what he wants to talk about. 

_Andros took Cally's elbow, and steered her away from the unicorns. "I think that we should talk about this out of _their_ hearing."_

_Cally nodded slowly. "All right. Whatever you want."_

_Andros sat down on the ground, and, after a moment's hesitation, Cally sat down next to him. "So...?"_

_"I have a suggestion to make," Andros told her._

_"What is it?" Cally wanted to know._

_"How do you feel about us teaming up together in this place?" Andros asked._

_Cally blinked. "Is that actually allowed?" she wondered._

_Andros shrugged, and gestured towards the two unicorns. "We could always ask _them_," he replied._

_"I don't think they're about to let us work together," Cally muttered. "_My_ unicorn told me that it couldn't help me at all... Did your one say the same thing?"_

_"Pretty much," Andros answered. "But we'd have more chance of completing our challenges if we can learn to work together."_

_"That's true, I guess," Cally admitted. She then tilted her head curiously. "So... Why are _you_ here?" she wanted to know._

_"Well, my sister was turned evil," Andros explained. "I tried to get her to remember who she really was, but I ended up hurting her. And I've been feeling really bad about it." The red space ranger paused, then asked, "Why are _you_ here?"_

_"I cheated on my ex-boyfriend," Cally replied. "But I've been feeling really guilty about it for _ages_ now." _Ever since Dustin asked asked me if I had a good reason for what I did. 

_Andros blinked at that. "Do you have any idea why you came here _now_?" he questioned._

_"Actually, I do," Cally answered. "I had a strange crystal shot into my chest which made me feel really ill. Then, that evening, I had loads of memories replaying over and over again in my head... And then, everything went black."_

_"Well, then you'd better hurry up and complete the challenges and return to your body," Andros replied. "So that you can apologise to him."_

_"I already _tried_," Cally muttered._

_"Then you have to try harder," Andros told the violet light ranger. He then got to his feet. "Come on. Let's go and see what our unicorns have to say about us teaming up together."_

Did we actually agree to that?_ Cally wondered, standing up as well. _Oh, well. I suppose we did. In any case, maybe it _would_ help to team up for this. After all, it _does_ make sense. 

_Andros glanced at the dark-haired girl walking beside him. Truth be known, he had no idea why he had proposed teaming up together to Cally. Maybe it had been because she had had no idea how to sort out the animal caught up in a trap. It would make sense for them to work together anyway._

_Andros hoped that his friends, especially Ashley, were getting on all right without him. Since he had arrived in the Forest of Feelings, he had only been worried about how his friends were coping. He had no idea whether time in the forest ran differently to time in his home world, and he wanted to finish his challenges as quickly as possible so that he could see Karone and Ashley and the rest of his friends again._

_"Are you finished now?" Cally's unicorn asked them._

_Andros glanced at Cally, guessing correctly that she was going to let _him_ do the talking, at least to bring up the idea._

_Andros looked at the two unicorns. "We want to team up," he told them._

_Andros' unicorn blinked. "That is not possible," it replied._

_"Why not?" Cally wanted to know._

_The two unicorns exchanged glances. "It's just not done," Cally's unicorn spoke._

_"So... Technically, it's not against the rules?" Andros asked._

_"It's not done," the unicorn repeated._

_"Is it actually allowed?" Andros asked._

_Andros' unicorn tilted its head to the side for a moment, as though it was listening to something, then it slowly nodded. "It _is_ allowed," it responded. "But, Andros, that _does_ mean that the challenges you've completed before no longer count."_

_Cally looked at Andros. "Are you _sure_ that you still want to do this?"_

_Andros hesitated, considering. On the one hand, teaming up with Cally would mean that they would get both sets of challenges completed quickly. But, on the other hand, it meant that his own challenges could take longer._

I guess it falls down to this,_ Andros thought to himself. _Which would be more advantageous to us both? Probably teaming up together... But can I _really_ risk staying away from my friends any longer? What if they need me? 

_"Andros, we don't have to do this if you'd rather not," Cally told the red space ranger. But there was disappointment showing in her eyes despite her words._

She _is_ offering me a way out, _Andros knew. But he couldn't abandon her. He may have only just met her, but she was a Power Ranger as well. Andros figured that he kind of _had_ to help her. It wouldn't be fair to just leave her to face the challenges on her own. In any case, two heads were bound to be better than one._

_"I agree," Andros told his unicorn._

_Cally frowned slightly. "Andros, you don't have to do this," she told him._

_"I know," the red space ranger replied. He looked at the two unicorns. "Well?" he asked._

_"It will take a little while for this to be sorted out," Cally's unicorn told them._

_"What should we do in the meantime?" Cally wanted to know._

_"Why not just look through the trees?" Andros' unicorn suggested. "It'll be safe for you for the amount of time it'll take to sort things out."_

_"But you may have to fight off some monsters through there," Cally's unicorn put in. "It could still be a bit dangerous."_

_Cally looked at Andros. "What do you think?"_

_Andros shrugged. "Well, it's something to do, I suppose," he replied._

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Shane walked into Storm Chargers. "Hey guys," he commented to Dustin and Hunter. "What's up?" 

Hunter just shrugged, and turned back to tidying the shelves. 

Shane blinked at Dustin. "Dude, what's up with Hunter?" 

"He had an argument with Lila," Dustin explained in a low voice. "I don't know the details. Hunter isn't talking to me about it. I would have asked Blake about it, but I don't think that he'd tell me either." The yellow wind ranger shrugged helplessly. Air head he might be, but he still worried when his friends were unhappy. 

Blake walked out of the storeroom at just that moment, carrying a few boxes stacked up on top of each other, nearly blocking his view of the shop. "Hey Shane," he greeted the red wind ranger. 

"Hey Blake," Shane replied. "Do you need help with those?" 

"No, I'm f... Ah!" Blake's foot had caught on a bit of rucked-up carpet, and he stumbled, the boxes falling out of his grip and just missing Shane and Dustin. 

Suddenly, Blake's arm was grabbed, and he was steadied. Seeing the commotion, Hunter had run over to help. 

"Thanks, bro," Blake said, bending to pick up some of the boxes which had, miraculously, not banged into anything breakable. 

"Next time, don't carry too much stuff," Hunter responded, grabbing some of the boxes too. "It wouldn't kill you to have to make two trips instead of just one." 

Blake made a slight face. "Yeah, but I really wanted to get this finished quickly," he replied. "Luckily, these boxes are empty." 

Shane slowly shook his head. "Dude, I _asked_ if you needed any help." 

"Well, that'll teach you not to accept offers of help," Hunter commented to Blake as they took the boxes outside. 

"Ouch." Dustin shook his head. "That's as close as I've ever heard to Hunter snapping at Blake." 

"Yeah, I know," Shane replied. "That argument with Lila must have really gotten to him, huh?" 

Dustin nodded. "Man, I _really_ wish that I knew what it was about," he muttered. Then, he smiled as he saw Kelly walking over to them. "Hey, Kel. What's up?" 

"Have you seen Cally around at all?" Kelly asked curiously. 

Blake and Hunter were walking up to them, but Blake paused as he heard Kelly ask Dustin that. Shoot. _Well, he's not going to have seen her around. She's in a coma, after all. I wonder if Cam's found anything else out? Probably not. He wasn't having much luck when I left. Still, I should have asked him to contact me if he _did_ manage to find anything out... Actually, if he _did_ contact me, then the others would probably find out about Cally's identity as the violet light ranger, and Cam and I promised not to reveal it._

"Hey, bro, are you all right?" Hunter asked Blake. 

The navy thunder ranger managed a half-hearted attempt at a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered. 

Hunter wasn't convinced, but he didn't press his brother. He knew, from previous experience, that Blake would tell him things when he was ready, and no amount of asking would get him to change his mind. 

Blake was relieved when Hunter didn't press the matter. He really didn't want to have to lie to his own brother, though he was probably lying by omission already. 

Dustin's face blanched at the mention of Cally's name. "No, I haven't," he answered. "Why? Should I have?" 

"No, I was just wondering," Kelly replied. "I just saw that she was in the shop the other day." 

_Apparently, you talked to her enough to find out her name. What else did she tell you?_ Dustin wondered. _What she did to me? Probably not. That girl doesn't _have_ a conscience. No matter what she says, I _know_ that she doesn't feel guilty for cheating on me. She didn't even have a reason for doing it. No reason at all. I _can't_ forgive her... I thought that I could, but now I know that I can't. She hurt me too much._

"No, I haven't seen her," Dustin repeated out loud. 

That seemed to satisfy Kelly, for she nodded and walked behind the counter to serve some customers. 

"You all right, bro?" Shane asked, resting a hand on Dustin's shoulder. 

The yellow wind ranger took a deep breath. "No," he admitted in a low voice. _I'm not even angry with her anymore. I'm too hurt. She can beg me on hands and knees, and I still wouldn't be able to forgive her. I think... If I _do_ see her again, I'll have to tell her to leave me alone. Her presence has opened up too many old wounds. It was easier once she left town._

_But the really hard thing is that I still love her. And I have no idea why. She fooled me, and I still care about her._

"We're still here for you," Blake told Dustin softly. "I know that it must be hard to deal with." 

Dustin managed a smile. "Thanks, guys," he said softly. "That means a lot. But... I can't really talk about it at the moment. I'm sorry." 

"No need to apologise," Hunter replied. "I can understand how you feel." 

Dustin nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose you do," he replied. "If you excuse me, I need to be alone right now." And the yellow wind ranger ran out of the shop, leaving the others stunned. 

"Well, I should probably get going to skateboard practice," Shane commented after a long moment. "See you guys later." 

"Bye," Blake replied. 

"Yeah, bye," Hunter echoed. 

Shane left the shop, passing Lila as he did so. 

Hunter flinched visibly as he watched the redhead approach slowly, as if unsure of her welcome. "Oh, great," he muttered under his breath. "What do I do now?" 

Blake grinned. "Why don't you just talk to her?" he suggested. With those words, he moved off, effectively leaving Hunter alone with Lila. 

Lila stopped a few paces away from the crimson thunder ranger, biting her lip. "Hi," she said softly. 

"Hey," Hunter responded, his tone soft but icy. 

Lila flinched. "Can... We talk?" she asked. 

Hunter shrugged. "I suppose so," he answered. "I haven't really go anything better to do." 

Lila hesitated a moment, gathering her thoughts together and trying to work out exactly what it was she wanted to say. "Hunter, I admit that I overreacted badly," she said at last. 

"That's an understatement," Hunter replied coolly. 

"Hunter, please." Lila's eyes were shimmering with barely-held back tears. "This is hard enough for me as it is. You have every right to be angry with me... I won't deny that." 

"Good," was the response. "It _should_ be hard. I'll admit that we moved into things quite fast... But why the _hell_ would you immediately assume that I don't care about you?" 

Lila looked down. "I don't know," she admitted. "I just... When I realised that you had brought other girls home with you, I just lost it." 

"I _told_ you that you would be the last one. Why didn't you believe me?" 

"I guess... You're the only good thing that's happened to me in a _long_ time," Lila whispered. "I was scared that I was going to lose you." 

The crimson thunder ranger paused at that. He could see exactly what Lila's fears were. He and Blake had had the same fears for quite some time. Of losing people that they cared about, especially after the death of their parents and the loss of their Sensei and all of their friends at the Thunder Ninja Academy. 

Knowing what Lila's fears were didn't change what she had said, though it _did_ allow Hunter to understand and forgive her. 

Hunter hesitated for a long moment. Then, he pulled Lila into a tight hug. 

Lila hugged back just as tightly, relieved that he had forgiven her. After what she had said to him, she had been convinced that he wouldn't forgive her. 

After a few moments, Hunter lifted Lila's chin, and gently kissed her. 

Blake smiled as he watched Hunter and Lila. At least there was _one_ couple who had managed to sort out their problems. 

Suddenly, Blake's morpher went off. 

The navy thunder ranger turned so that the other people couldn't see him apparently talking into his watch, and whispered, "Blake here. What's up?" 

"Blake, it's Cam," the voice of the green samurai ranger answered. "I think I've found something." 

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Read and review, please! 

-Eyes this chapter suspiciously- You'd tell me if they sounded like Mary Sues... Right?


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Eighteen**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own Andros or anything else from Power Rangers in Space 

**Replies to reviews:**

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**garnetred:** Actually, I was originally trying to decide between bringing Karone into this fic or Andros. The only reason I chose Andros was because I've seen more episodes with him in, so would have a better chance of remaining true to his character (seeing as the site which I was using for Power Rangers information has now shut down -Sniffs-)... 'sides, I figured that Andros would probably feel guilty cos in Countdown to Destruction, he sent Karone's attack back at her. Anyways, thanks for reviewing! 

**CamFan4Ever:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, time differences suck, don't they? I roleplay with a number of people from the US and other countries, and it's really difficult getting on at the same time --. Actually, it seems that it's only when I feel really down that I think my characters might be Mary Sues. Oh, well. At least I know four people who like this fic. Hurry up and write the next chapter of FYL II!!!!! 

**Jorgitosbabe **and** BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it! 

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_Cally followed Andros through the trees, glancing around a little nervously. Despite the unicorns' words _now_, she couldn't help remembering what her unicorn had said earlier.___

_The area through the trees was completely silent. No bird song, no animal sounds, nothing. Cally felt a little freaked out. She'd _never_ been in a dead silence before.___

_Andros flicked a glance over his shoulder at Cally. "You ok?" he asked._

_The violet light ranger nodded slowly, and tried to smile. "Just a little nervous," she admitted.___

_"Yeah, I know what you mean," Andros responded. "At least this way, though, we're not just stuck doing nothing while we wait for our unicorns to sort out the whole us teaming up together."___

_"I think that stuck doing nothing would be much better than just walking headlong into danger," Cally muttered.___

_Andros raised his eyebrows at the violet light ranger. "Why didn't you say anything?" he wanted to know.___

_Cally merely shrugged. Talking in this silence felt strange. Kind of like trying to speak through cotton wool. "I guess I'm curious about what might be through here," she admitted finally.___

_"Yeah. Me too." Andros turned his attention back to the area in front of him.___

_Cally's head whipped round as she suddenly thought she saw something moving. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make out vague, tantalizing shapes moving just outside her vision._

Cally.__

_The voice was female and sounded familiar to the violet light ranger. Cally peered harder. Then, her eyes widened as she glimpsed the form of a dark-haired, dark-skinned woman. "Mum?" she whispered._

Cally.__

_Andros took Cally's arm. "Whatever you're seeing, it's not real," he told her._

_"But..." Cally began, her eyes filled with longing, her hand outstretched towards the figure she could see.___

_Andros shook her a little. "It's _not_ true," he repeated.___

_Cally blinked several times, shaking her head slightly, trying to clear her thoughts. She _knew_ that Andros was right. But..._

Cally. Please come to me. I love you.__

_The violet light ranger's eyes widened, and she turned her head against her better judgment.___

_Cally was sure that she could see Dustin standing some distance away, but it wasn't clear. She started to take a step forward, but Andros stopped her.___

_"It's not real!" the red space ranger snapped, shaking Cally. "Will you listen to me?! It's _not_ real!"___

_"But... That's Dustin," Cally protested.___

_"No, it's not," Andros told her. "This place is playing with our minds. It's making us see things that aren't there. No, it's more than that. This place is making us see what we truly want to see, deep in our hearts."___

_Cally hesitated for a long moment, and then lowered her head. "I guess you're right," she whispered. "I should have known. There's no way Dustin could still love me after what I did."___

_"You'd be surprised at how much people who love us would be willing to forgive," Andros responded.___

_"Well, Dustin would _definitely_ not forgive me for cheating on him," Cally replied. She rubbed a little at her eyes. "Ok. I'm ok now... I think."___

_Andros nodded slowly. "Good." He moved his hands from Cally's shoulders, and started walking again._

_The violet light ranger hurried after him. "Hey, wait up!" she cried. "Shouldn't we maybe go back to where our unicorns are?"___

_"Why?" Andros asked without turning round.___

_"Well, because of what just almost happened," Cally answered. "Maybe carrying on walking this way is a bad idea. It would be just like walking into the lion's den."_

_Andros looked at Cally then, slowing down his walking but not coming to a complete stop. "Well, we _could_ go back, if you really want to," he said.___

_Before Cally could reply, Andros' eyes went curiously blank. The red space ranger turned sideways, and started walking.___

_Cally blinked. "Andros?"___

_The red space ranger ignored her. He could see Ashley, beckoning him towards her. With her, he could see the rest of his friends, including his sister Karone._

_Cally ignored the voices calling her name, reminding herself that it wasn't real. They weren't really her parents and Dustin. But it was so hard, though. She could feel a couple of tears slip out of her eyes and roll down her cheeks._

_The violet light ranger angrily dashed away her tears, and ran over to Andros, grabbing his arm to bring him to a stop.___

_Andros turned his face to Cally, apparently in a trance. She shifted in front of him, blocking his way. "Andros, stop," she told him.___

_"Get out of my way, Cally," Andros replied. "Ashley's over there."___

_"No, she's not. It's not real," Cally reminded him, repeating Andros' earlier words to her when she had been in danger of becoming lost._

_"I..." Andros began. Then, he shook his head, attempting to clear his mind. "Of course. You are right. Come on. Let's get out of here, before either or both of us get deceived enough to actually get stuck here."___

_Cally nodded, and the two quickly exited._

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"It's called the Forest of Feelings," Cam told Blake as soon as the navy thunder ranger entered NinjaOps. 

Blake blinked. _The Forest of Feelings?_ "What is?" he asked out loud. 

"The place that Cally is trapped in," Cam answered. Seeing Blake's uncomprehending expression, he explained, "It's her spirit that's trapped in there. Apparently, the Forest of Feelings is a place where people who have a particularly strong negative feeling, say anger, and can't shake it off get trapped." 

Blake frowned a little. "What do you mean?" he asked. 

"Well, put it this way," Cam said. "Have you ever felt _really_ angry or unhappy about something?" 

Blake thought for a moment, then nodded slowly, not entirely sure what the green samurai ranger was getting at. 

"And you've been able to shake off the feeling, right?" Cam questioned. 

"Yeah..." 

Cam nodded. "What if you _couldn't_ shake the feeling of sadness or anger off?" he wanted to know. 

"Well, I guess..." Blake blinked, then shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "I'd guess that the feeling would overwhelm me until I could think of nothing else. Like, if you're really mad at someone and won't forgive them, then it'll fester until something that's probably quite small to begin with becomes really big." 

"Yes, that is true," Cam responded. He glanced down at the Ninja Scroll lying on the table in front of him, then looked up at Blake again. "Except, in some instances, the person is given the chance to work through their negative emotion, if you like. To deal with it and come to terms with it." 

"By entering the Forest of Feelings," Blake guessed. 

Cam nodded. "That's what I've been trying to explain to you." 

"So... What exactly is the Forest of Feelings?" Blake asked, sitting in one of the chairs opposite the green samurai ranger. 

"It's a forest where a spirit will travel," Cam explained. "Once they arrive in the forest, they are met by a guide, apparently a unicorn, and they have to travel to the particular gate that leads to their body, completing different challenges along the way." 

"Does this forest really exist outside of people's minds?" Blake wanted to know. 

Cam hesitated for a long moment. "I don't know," he admitted finally. "The Ninja Scrolls aren't totally clear on that. But my opinion is that it _is_ a real place... Though it exists on a different plane of existence." 

Blake blinked. "You mean like another world?" Then, he shrugged. "I guess it would have to. Unicorns only exist in myths here, right?" 

Cam raised his eyebrows. "This from a Power Ranger?" 

"Good point," Blake laughed. Then, abruptly becoming serious again, he asked, "So, what about Cally? Could she have just suddenly started feeling a really strong negative emotion?" 

Cam thought for a moment, and then slowly shook his head. "No, I don't believe so," he answered. "I think that something probably triggered her body slipping into the coma and her spirit into the Forest of Feelings. Quite possibly, the crystal was the cause. She would have had to be feeling this particular emotion for quite a while, though she probably would have pushed it to the back of her mind." 

Blake frowned. "Anger? Sadness?" He hesitated, then, "Guilt?" 

"Probably a combination of the last two," Cam said. 

"No way," Blake replied, shaking his head. "Dude, there's no _way_ that Cally could be feeling guilty." 

"Why?" Cam wanted to know. 

"She cheated on Dustin," Blake pointed out. "If she had truly cared about him and loved him, she would never have done that to him." 

"And you've _never_ made mistakes?" Cam was amused. 

Blake scowled. "That's not the same," he responded. 

"And _why_ isn't it?" Cam questioned. "I don't pretend to know anything about Cally or even her friend Faye. I don't pretend to know if Cally truly _is_ sorry for what she did to Dustin. But why should she be any different to you when it comes to making mistakes?" 

"Because she made a huge one," Blake muttered. "And she really hurt Dustin. And why should he forgive her for that?" 

Cam raised his eyebrows. "She also brought your brother here when he got hurt during that fight with the tentacled monster," he pointed out. "But, Blake, I don't want to argue about this. Neither of us know much about Cally or even enough about her personality to decide that we know what she's truly like. The fact is, Faye asked us to help out, and that's what we're supposed to be doing." 

"I guess you're right," Blake mumbled. He gave a soft sigh, then asked, "So, have you found out if you can remove the crystal from Cally's chest or not?" 

"I don't believe I can," Cam answered. "I think that it would probably be better to remove it once she wakes up from her coma." 

"How soon will she wake up?" Blake wanted to know. "Have you got any ideas?" 

"No," Cam admitted. "She has all of these challenges to complete." 

"What happens if she fails a challenge?" 

Cam was silent for a long moment, apparently not wanting to answer. 

"Cam, what happens if she fails a challenge?" Blake repeated. 

"She dies," Cam muttered. 

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_"You told us it was safe!" Andros accused the two unicorns.___

_"Well, it _was_," Cally's unicorn defended herself.___

_"Except then that _they_ decided to make that into one of your challenges," Andros' unicorn put in._

_"So _that's_ why you told us to go through there?" Cally asked.___

_"We didn't know," Cally's unicorn told them.___

_"But it _does_ mean that you've completed one challenge," Andros' unicorn said.___

_"One out of how many?" Andros wanted to know.___

_"We can't tell you that."___

_"There's a surprise," Cally muttered. "I suppose you can't tell us anything _else_ about the other challenges, either? Like, for example, what they may entail?"_

_"You _know_ we can't," Cally's unicorn responded sharply. "It's against the rules."___

_"What rules?" Andros questioned.___

_"Rules made by _them_." The two unicorns glanced around almost fearfully, as though expecting to be overheard, or for someone to suddenly appear out of nowhere.___

_"Oh, great," Cally sighed. "That tells us a lot. So where should we go now?" she addressed that question to Andros, seeing as the two unicorns clearly weren't going to be of much help to them.___

_"I guess forwards," Andros replied with a shrug. "We might as well keep following the path. I just hope that we're going the right way."___

_"You are," Cally's unicorn told them.___

_Cally raised her eyebrows. "Oh, so you _can_ help us with _some_ things."___

_"Only with the direction you must travel," Andros' unicorn replied.___

_"Ok, let's go," Andros told Cally.___

_The two humans and two unicorns started walking, Andros leading with Cally pausing every so often to look at an unusual flower or plant.___

_Suddenly, Andros stopped dead, almost causing Cally to run into him, and sniffed the air.___

_The violet light ranger blinked. "What's wrong?" she asked.___

_"I'm... not sure," Andros answered. _The air smells like smoke... But that would mean that there's a fire ahead of us, and that can't be right. There's no way that we could manage to go through a fire. It would mean that we'd have to turn round and retrace our steps, and the unicorns told us that we had to come this way.__

_The four rounded a corner, and stopped.___

_There, in front of them, blocking the path, was a blazing fire._

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Read and review, please!


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Nineteen**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of the creature in this fic, but I _do_ own its modifications 

**Author's Note:** Woo-hoo! Chapter Nineteen already! If anyone's read any of my other stories, they'll know how bad I am at stopping writing a fic in the middle of it. (I _will_ get back to work on Is Love for Real? I promise). 

56 reviews! Wow, that's _great_! Way more than I expected to get. Oh, if someone would like me to put one of their characters in this story, then just ask, and I'll see what I can do. (It's not anywhere near completion yet) 

**DarkAngel:** -Grumbles- It _was_... 

**RedFox:** Until _he_ came along. -Glares at Apollo- 

**Apollo:** -Just sits there with a smug look on his face- 

**DarkAngel:** Anyway... There's yet another twist in this. Thanks to _him_ -Also glares at Apollo- 

**Apollo:** -Raises his eyebrows at DarkAngel- Have you got a problem? 

**DarkAngel:** Um, no! 

**Replies to reviews:**

****

**garnetred:** You're partly right... -Smiles- Thanks for reviewing! 

**CamFan4Ever:** Aww -Hugs you- I'm sure he'll be on soon. Anyways, thank you for reviewing 

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it! 

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"Hey." 

Dustin glanced dejectedly up at Tori, then returned to staring into the forest. "Oh, hey." 

Tori sat down next to the yellow wind ranger. "You ok?" she asked. 

"Yes." Dustin paused, then admitted, "No, not really. Tor, I'd quite like to be left alone right now." 

"Dustin, I'm worried about you," Tori told him. "Shane said that you left Storm Chargers really upset." 

Dustin shrugged slightly, looking down. "I'm _fine_," he muttered. "Honestly, Tori. There's nothing wrong. You don't need to worry about me." 

"Dustin, you're obviously _not_ fine," Tori replied. "Kelly's worried about you as well. She thinks that she might have said something to upset you." 

"Yeah? Well, it wasn't her fault. Please just leave me alone, Tori." 

"Is it Cally?" Tori questioned. 

"I don't want to talk about it," Dustin responded. "It hurts too much." 

"Do you hate her?" Tori wanted to know. 

The yellow wind ranger hesitated for a long moment. "I don't know," he admitted finally. "I feel like I _should_... But I don't know if I do or not. I hate what she did to me... But I don't hate her as a person." 

"You still love her." It wasn't a question. 

Dustin nodded slowly. "I guess you must think that I'm an idiot," he muttered. 

"No, Dustin, I don't," Tori replied. "It's not your fault if you still love her. But what you have to ask yourself is, if she apologises to you, whether or not you're going to accept it." 

"No, I probably won't," Dustin said immediately. 

"Dustin, you don't have to pretend to me," Tori told him. "I'm your friend. I won't get mad at you for telling me how you feel you'd act towards Cally. It is, after all, your own decision." 

"I don't know," Dustin whispered. "I just don't know, Tori. But if I accepted her apology, would she immediately do it again?" 

"Even if you _do_ accept her apology, then you don't have to start dating her again," Tori replied. "At least, not straight away. Get to know her again as a person rather than your girlfriend. After all, you haven't seen her for quite some time. She could have changed quite a lot." 

"I suppose you're right," Dustin mumbled. "But I find it hard to believe that she _could_ have changed." 

Tori tilted her head to the side. "_We've_ all changed," she reminded him. "Remember when Shane thought that he had to do it all on his own? He changed then. Cally _could_ have changed from how you knew her then... But, then again, she might not have." 

Dustin scowled a little. "That _really_ tells me a lot about what I should do," he mumbled. 

"You have to do what _you_ feel is right," Tori told him. "Not what someone else thinks that you should do." 

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Faye walked into NinjaOps to find Blake and Cam there. Sensei was standing on a small table. 

The orange light ranger glanced around, then looked at Cam. "You said that you'd managed to find something?" 

Cam nodded. "I know a little bit of what's happened to the violet ranger," he told her. 

"What is it?" Faye demanded, looking from Cam to Blake and back again. 

"It's a place called the Forest of Feelings," Blake explained before Cam could say anything. 

The green samurai ranger shot Blake an annoyed look, and then nodded to Faye. "He's right, actually." 

"What's the Forest of Feelings?" Faye looked confused. 

Cam quickly explained what he had found out from reading the Ninja Scrolls. 

"Ah." Faye nodded. "That makes sense. Cal's been feeling guilty about cheating on Dustin for ages. I guess she's been so busy lately that she hasn't had time to think about how she feels." 

"And now the crystal's lowered her defenses," Cam noted thoughtfully. "But didn't you say that it made her sick?" 

"How do you know that Cally's feeling guilty about having cheated on Dustin?" Blake demanded of Faye. 

The orange light ranger turned her gaze towards the navy thunder ranger. "I did tell you about when she went into a meditative trance, didn't I?" she asked. 

Both Blake and Cam nodded. 

"When she took the energy from me, we were both filled up with light," Faye explained. "It was like we were glowing from within. My light was orange, and Cally's was violet... Except I could see a darkness inside my friend that the light was trying to contain. Once Cal slipped into a meditative state, she reached out to the nearest source of power - that was me - to get more energy to aid her." 

"What's the darkness inside her?" Cam questioned. 

Faye shrugged slightly. "Depression, despair, guilt, whatever you want to call it. It's like a disease, and she's trying to fight it." 

Blake shook his head. "I don't believe it," he said. 

"Why not?" Faye asked him. 

"Because if Cally _really_ cared about Dustin, she would never have cheated on him," Blake responded. He looked at Cam. "Isn't that right?" he asked the green samurai ranger. 

Cam remained silent. He felt so weak... It was like _his_ energy was being taken from him. Was it possible that it really was? Could Lothor had found a way of stealing his energy for some diabolical plan? Was it another reason altogether? Or was it just a natural tiredness, and he was just being paranoid? 

"Oh, you don't know anything!" Faye snapped at Blake, tearing Cam's thoughts back to them. "Have you _never_ made a mistake? Are you just totally perfect?!" 

"No, but I'd never hurt someone that I loved!" Blake retorted. 

"But people _do_!" Faye protested. "If we're hurt, or angry, then we lash out at the people closest to our heart. Everyone does it." 

Blake opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, a thoughtful expression on his face. 

A part of Cam noted this exchange, and experienced mixed feelings about it. This could either cause Faye and Blake to become enemies, or it could cause them to be able to work together more easily. But the rest of the green samurai ranger didn't care. He was too busy worrying about his _own_ problem. His father kept on telling him that he had been spending too much time on his computer, but, truthfully, the green samurai ranger didn't believe that that was the case. How could working on a computer make him exhausted? Computers didn't suck the life energy out of people. 

"Blake, Faye, now is not the time for fighting," Sensei told the two Power Rangers. "Now is the time where you must try to work together." 

"Yes, Sensei," Blake muttered. 

Faye folded her arms across her chest. "I refuse to try and work together with someone who talks like that about my friend!" 

"Well, then, we just won't work together at all!" Blake retorted. 

"Fine by me," Faye replied. 

"Stop it, you two," Cam told them. "I have a headache, and neither of you are helping it by shouting at each other." 

Both Faye and Blake subsided, though they continued to glare at each other. 

Cam sighed. Well, he supposed that a partial peace was better than an all-out fight. It was quite clear that Faye and Blake had taken an immediate dislike to each other. 

"Now, I believe that I can't remove the crystal from Cally's chest until she wakes up," Cam told Faye. 

"Why not?" the orange light ranger asked. 

"Because I don't know what effect it would have on her spirit in the Forest of Feelings," Cam answered, relieved that it was now much more peaceful. "It could have no effect at all on her... Or, it could cause her to be trapped there, as the crystal seems to be the catalyst for her entering the Forest of Feelings." 

Faye nodded slowly. "Well, that makes sense," she said. "But I'm worried as the crystal caused her to feel quite ill. It could still cause some quite serious damage. Is there any possible way of lessening the effects of it at all?" 

Cam thought for a long moment, and then slowly shook his head. "I don't know enough about it to risk doing something to it at the moment," he replied. "I really wish I could help more." 

"That's all right," Faye sighed. "At least I know that she's safe. For the moment, anyway," the orange light ranger quickly added. 

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It was late evening, and very dark, by the time Kelly finally got round to locking up Storm Chargers. There didn't seem to be anyone else around, and, despite herself, Kelly shivered as she locked the front door. 

_Don't be silly,_ Kelly told herself. _You're a grown woman now. You're not scared of the dark anymore._

Still, Kelly's nervousness caused her to fumble with the keys and to drop them onto the ground with a loud clatter. 

Wincing a little at the sound, the woman bent to pick them up. When she straightened, she let out a tiny scream. 

There was a little boy standing there, probably about ten or eleven, twelve at the most. He had white-blond hair, really pale skin, and huge blue eyes. For an instant, Kelly thought that she saw something dark and evil peering out of those eyes, but the feeling was quickly gone, leaving only a scared little child who had clearly lost his mummy. 

Kelly gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Hello," she said. "What are you doing here at this time of night?" 

The boy stuck his thumb in his mouth and didn't answer, only stared at Kelly with wide eyes. 

Kelly wondered if the boy couldn't talk. She looked around, but couldn't see any signs of any adults around. Turning her attention back to the child, Kelly asked, "Where's your mummy?" 

"Gone." The boy spoke around his thumb, but his voice sounded almost like an adult's. 

Kelly gave herself a mental shake. Of _course_ the boy didn't sound like an adult. She mentally scolded herself for acting so stupidly. She was probably scaring the child. 

"Did your mummy leave you on your own?" Kelly asked gently. 

The child paused a moment, as though processing the question, and then solemnly nodded his head up and down.__

_Stupid woman,_ Kelly thought to herself. _The child's clearly frightened. As soon as I find his mother, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!_

"Shall I come with you to help you find your mummy?" Kelly asked the boy. 

Again, the boy hesitated. Clearly, he had been told not to talk to strangers. But then, he nodded his head up and down. 

Kelly came over to him and held out her hand. The boy took it, and Kelly was surprised at how cold his skin felt. He must have been wandering around for quite a long time for his skin to get _that_ cold. 

"Now, where can you last remember seeing your mummy?" As Kelly asked this, she made the mistake of looking into the child's eyes. 

They were like pools drowning her. Kelly suddenly felt as though she couldn't breathe. She felt all feeling leave her body, leaving her paralyzed. The keys dropped from her hands once more to land with a clatter that seemed all at once deafeningly loud but also hollow, like she was listening underwater. 

Distantly, Kelly could hear the screams of tortured souls. She felt suddenly cold, and was sure that the child's teeth had suddenly grown longer and sharper, like a vampire's.__

_But there are no such thing as vampires!_

Kelly had no idea if she had spoken, or someone else had. 

Kelly suddenly felt a tearing pain, as though her soul was being ripped from her living body. She screamed, but there was no one around to hear her.__

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_Cally stared at the fire blocking their path. "Oh, no," she murmured, closing her eyes. She was terrified of fire. Just the thought of it eating away at her body was enough to give her nightmares for weeks.___

_"Is this another challenge?" Andros demanded of the two unicorns, seemingly unaware of Cally's distress.___

_"We cannot tell you that," Cally's unicorn responded._

_"Oh, _there's _a surprise," Andros muttered.___

_Cally whimpered, and shrank back. She could feel the heat of the fire. Could feel the flames reaching hungrily for her. They wanted to burn her, she was sure of it. She fought the feeling of panic - to just run screaming, not looking back.___

_"Cally, are you all right?" Andros asked the violet light ranger.___

_"No." Cally shook her head firmly. "The fire... Andros... I don't like it!"___

_The red space ranger blinked. "You're scared of fire?" he asked.___

_Cally nodded, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. She could still feel the heat from the flames, though. Could just imagine the flames licking up her legs...___

_The violet light ranger shuddered. "Can't we go another way?" she whimpered.___

_Andros looked enquiringly at the unicorns.___

_"No, you may not," Andros' unicorn replied. "You _must_ go this way. You_ must_ figure out a way of getting past the fire."___

_Cally trembled, and moved as far back as was humanly possible._

So... Obviously, this _must_ be a challenge,_ Andros thought to himself with narrowed eyes. _But do they know about Cally's fear of fire? Is this _why_ it's a challenge? And, if so, does that mean that I will have to face one of _my_ own fears?__

_"Cally, do you have any ideas?" Andros asked the violet light ranger.___

_Cally shook her head firmly, her eyes now open. She had discovered that it was worse with her eyes closed._

_Andros narrowed his eyes in thought. Then, after a moment, he said to Cally, "The whole point of us teaming up together was so that we could help each other. Do you not want us to do this together any more?"_

_"No!" Cally protested. "It's not that at all. It's just that... Fire's practically my biggest fear."___

_"Then this will be a true challenge for you," Andros told her. "And just think. When you finally get out of here, you'll be able to tell your friends that you managed to overcome your fear of fire, even if only for a short time."___

_Cally positioned herself so that her back was to the fire, and tried to smile, though it wasn't a very good one. At least it was an attempt, though. "Why don't we try and find a supply of water?" she suggested, her voice trembling a little.___

_Andros frowned a little. "There doesn't seem to be any supplies of water around..." he began. Then, his eyes widened. "Oh. What if there are more of those clearings around?"___

_Cally nodded.___

_Andros looked at the two unicorns. "Well?" he asked._

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When Dustin arrived at Storm Chargers, he was surprised to see a huge crowd apparently gathered around something.__

_What's going on?_ the yellow wind ranger wondered. 

Dustin pushed his way through the crowd, and found a policeman crouched over something. "Hey, what's going on?" Dustin demanded. 

The policeman straightened, and Dustin's eyes got very wide. 

Kelly was lying on the ground, clearly dead. Her eyes were wide and staring, and there was an expression of pure terror on her face. 

But that wasn't all. 

Kelly's skin was dead white, almost as though all of the blood had been drained from her body... 

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Read and review, please!


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires, though I do lay claim to the slight modifications that may or may not have been made

**RedFox:** -Grumbles- Vampires? Vampires?! Of all of the possible supernatural creatures she could have chosen... Why vampires?

**Apollo:** -Says calmly- Because werewolves would have been difficult to do with the whole turning into werewolves once a month...

**RedFox:** -Glares- This is all _your_ fault! –Tries to leap at him, but is forcibly restrained by DarkAngel- GRRR! Let me at him!

**DarkAngel:** Do you really want to give him the satisfaction?

**RedFox:** -Subsides, but continues to glare at Apollo-

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** Well, Storm Chargers will probably end up closing. And as for the little boy. Well... I can't really tell you anything. –Looks apologetic-. Thanks for reviewing!

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it

**CamFan4Ever:** Shocked again? Lol... Sometimes, with too many muses, you have too many ideas floating around your head, and you can't write _any_ of them down, so you have to take a break from writing for a while... Anyways, glad you liked it

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"_Well?" Andros repeated._

_The two unicorns exchanged glances, which neither Andros or Cally could interpret, but didn't say anything immediately._

_Cally squirmed, uncomfortably aware of the fire burning behind her. She was a little surprised that the fire didn't seem to be spreading, but she wasn't going to complain about it. She was still feeling the beginnings of panic, though._

"_Could you please hurry up?" Cally begged._

_Andros shot her a quick glance. "Why don't you stand behind the unicorns?" he suggested. He then looked at the two mythical animals again. "What's taking so long?" he wanted to know._

"_We had to find out if we were allowed to help you or not," Andros' unicorn explained after a moment._

"_And are you?" Andros demanded._

_The unicorns exchanged glances again, then Cally's unicorn answered, "We _can_ help you... But only to find a suitable water source."_

"_That's better than nothing, I suppose," Andros muttered. He glanced at Cally, his expression concerned. "You gonna be all right?"_

_Cally nodded, and tried to smile. "As long as we can get this over with as quickly as possible."_

"_Well, we can certainly _try_," Andros replied._ It'll probably be better if Cally stays near the water source, considering her fear of fire._ Out loud, Andros asked, "Can you take Cally to the water sources, as long as it's nearby?"_

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"Something wrong, Dustin?" Cam asked as the yellow wind ranger stumbled into NinjaOps, his expression dazed.

Dustin glanced around, noting that all of the Power Rangers, plus Sensei, were there. _Good. At least that means I won't have to repeat what I'm about to say._

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be helping Kelly out at Storm Chargers today?" Blake questioned.

"Well, see, that's, like, the problem," Dustin answered.

"What do you mean?" Shane frowned. "Has something happened to Kelly?"

"You could say that," Dustin responded, sounding worried. He hesitated for a moment, then, "Kelly's dead."

Hunter stared, his expression clearly shocked. "_What_?"

"Dustin, are you _sure_?" Tori wanted to know. "I mean, have you actually seen her body?"

The yellow wind ranger slowly nodded. "When I arrived at Storm Chargers, there was a huge crowd outside," he explained. "I managed to get through the crowd to see Kelly... And she was obviously dead."

"Was there any sign of what could have killed her?" Sensei asked.

"Well... It was like she was drained completely of blood," Dustin admitted. _Ok, I _know_ it sounds crazy... But I know what I saw._

"You mean like a vampire?" Cam frowned. "Dustin, vampires don't exist."

"Not necessarily," Sensei said. "After all, the legends of vampires had to come from _somewhere_."

"Well, whatever," Dustin muttered. "All I know is that someone, or some_thing_, murdered Kelly."

"But if it _was_ something like a vampire, then maybe Kelly will come back as a vampire?" Hunter suggested.

"I don't see how _that_ would help us," Cam replied. "We'd probably end up having to stake her or something like that."

"Could we _please_ stop talking about Kelly's death?" Dustin begged. "It's bad enough having to think about it."

"Just one more thing," Shane said, frowning slightly. "With Kelly dead, who's going to be running Storm Chargers?"

"It'll probably close," Hunter commented. He exchanged a worried glance with his brother. _That means that Blake, Dustin, and me will be out of work..._

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_Cally looked at the river the two unicorns had brought her to, and frowned. This was all very well, but she realised that both she and Andros had forgotten something really important._

_What were they going to carry the water in?_

_Cally looked at the two unicorns. "Look, I know that you're not allowed to help us," she said. "But it's silly to design a challenge like this. We need something to put the water in, like buckets, or something like that... We also need some way of carrying them to and fro. With only two of us, how are we going to work fast enough to put out this fire?"_

_The two unicorns hesitated for a moment, then Cally's unicorn replied, "We're allowed to help you with this... Seeing as you've figured out everything else on your own." The unicorn nodded once, and a stack of buckets appeared close to Cally's feet._

_The violet light ranger looked down. _Ok... That's _one_ problem sorted out, at least._ She looked at the two unicorns, biting her lip, thinking. Then, she asked, "If I fill up the buckets with water, can you carry them out to Andros?" _Providing that we move quickly enough, we _should_ be able to put this fire...

_Andros' unicorn blinked, then slowly nodded. "I guess we can," it responded. "Once you fill up the buckets, we can take them over to Andros, then return for another one."_

_Cally nodded, and immediately bent to work. Filled, the buckets were really heavy. She put the first one on the ground, and was dimly aware of Andros' unicorn moving to take the handle into its mouth as she filled up the second bucket for her own unicorn to take._

_After that, Cally's movements became mechanical, almost like a robot. Ignoring the steadily growing pain in her arms, the violet light ranger filled the buckets with water, hardly noticing when the two unicorns returned to get newly-filled buckets._

_Because Cally's mind was completely on the task she was doing, she had no idea of her danger until it was too late._

_Caught up in the task of filling up buckets, Cally didn't hear anyone approach. She didn't even realise anything was wrong until someone grabbed her round the waist. The violet light ranger struggled, but whoever was holding her was too strong._

_The person lifted her easily, and pushed her into the water, holding her head under, ignoring her struggles._

_Panicked, Cally fought as hard as she could. But she was gradually growing weaker and weaker. She was drowning._

_Cally's vision went black, and, in her own world, her body stopped breathing._

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Cam blinked as he felt someone shaking him awake, and he looked up into the frightened eyes of the orange light ranger.

The green samurai ranger frowned, and reached for his glasses, which he put on. _Great... I fell asleep at the computer again. Dad's _not_ going to be impressed._ "Faye, what is it?" he asked.

"It's Cally!" Faye replied, her eyes wide with terror. "She's... She's stopped breathing!"

Instantly, Cam felt wide-awake. He stared at Faye. "_What_?"

"Cally's stopped breathing," Faye repeated, managing to calm down, though with obvious effort.

_Oh, great,_ Cam thought to himself with a sigh. _First Kelly, and now Cally. Is the death _never_ going to end?_

"Cam, what's wrong?" Faye questioned.

Cam looked at Faye. "You've been to Storm Chargers, right?"

The orange light ranger blinked, then slowly nodded.

Cam paused for a moment, then said, "Well, Kelly, that's the owner of the shop, she's... well... She's been murdered."

"Oh, no!" Faye recoiled sharply, her hand to her mouth, a look of horror on her face. "What happened? Does anyone have any idea who did it?"

"It's not a _who_ so much as a _what_," Cam replied. "Dustin saw Kelly's body, and says that it appeared to be drained completely of blood."

Faye stared. "You mean like a... vampire?"

The green samurai ranger nodded slowly. "It's a possibility that can't really be dismissed," he commented, even though he himself had actually said that vampires didn't exist... Then again, his father had been right. The stories of vampires _had_ to come from _somewhere_.

Faye bit her lip. "That's... really bad," she said softly. "According to Cally, Kelly was quite nice to her the other day."

Oh, yeah. Cam had forgotten about why Faye had come. Which was strange, because Cam didn't usually forget things like that. Then again, he _had_ been under a lot of stress lately. Not to mention suddenly becoming really exhausted.

"What exactly happened?" Cam wanted to know.

"Well, I was sitting on the chair next to Cally's bed," Faye explained. "And then she suddenly stopped breathing. I tried CPR for a couple of minutes, but it wasn't having any effect. So, I decided to come see you."

Cam took a deep breath. "I warned you that this might happen," he told Faye in a soft tone.

"Could you _please_ at least come and look?" Faye begged.

Cam hesitated for a long moment, and then sighed. "All right," he muttered. "It's not like I have anything better to do." _Other than sleep and try to regain some of my energy,_ the green samurai ranger added silently.

Faye gave a small smile. "Oh, thank you!" With those words, she grabbed Cam's hand, and dragged him out of NinjaOps.

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It was quite late by the time Lila finally started home. Really, she shouldn't have been out so late... But she'd seen a really great sale in one of the shops, and started buying loads of stuff. Then, of course, she'd had to go and have something to eat. And as it was near to wintertime, it was getting dark really quickly.

_I should really call Peter to come and pick me up,_ Lila knew. But she also knew that Peter would gloat over her being scared of the dark and tease her about it for ages. He'd _never_ let her live it down.

_I'm _not_ going to ring Peter,_ Lila decided. _I can take care of myself. I'm a Power Ranger, after all. I'm not going to let a silly little thing like the dark scare me. I'm stronger than that._ So, the silver silk ranger started out for her home.

Not far into the journey, and Lila was beginning to wish that she was safe back at home. But she was still too proud to ring Peter and ask him to come and get her, so she just carried on walking.

Lila had been scared of the dark ever since she was quite little. She didn't care that people were insistent about there being no such thing as monsters. She was still scared. Houses were especially creepy at night. They made so many scary noises that could be _anything_, though they inevitably turned out to be noises that were relatively harmless, like the boiler and other things.

Lila crossed the road. Not long now, and she would be nice and safe in her own home.

Of course, it didn't quite work out like that.

Lila suddenly caught sight of a small, solitary figure, possibly a child, standing alone on the street.

The silver silk ranger hesitated. _Shoot. Supposing it _is_ a child, and they're lost? In all honesty, I _can't_ just leave them. Suppose something were to happen to them? It would be my fault._

Lila hesitated, and then started walking towards the figure. As she got nearer, she could see that it _was_ a child. A little boy with slightly long white-blond hair.

Lila smiled, and crouched down so that she was of a height with the boy. "Hello," she said. "Are you lost?"

The boy hesitated, and then slowly nodded. After a moment, he put out his hand.

Lila took the boy's hand, touched that he apparently trusted her. She noticed the strange coldness, but, then again, it _was_ a cold night. This child must have been here some time. Obviously, no one else had wanted to help him.

"Shall we see if we can find your house?" Lila smiled.

The boy nodded, and pointed along the street. Lila smiled again, and started walking with him.

Suddenly, the silver silk ranger heard the sound of adult laughter. She shuddered. The laugh sounded _evil_. Cold.

Lila looked down, and found herself caught up in the little boy's eyes. They suddenly seemed so big... And Lila felt so tired...

Lila began to sway. She forgot everything. She forgot getting home, she forgot her brother, she forgot the mission against the Power Rangers. All that existed for her was the boy's eyes, which seemed to be getting bigger and bigger.

"Lila?"

Abruptly, the spell was broken, and the silver silk ranger blinked, glancing around in surprise. _Where's the boy gone?_ She didn't have time to worry, though, because Hunter was striding towards her, his arms sliding around her and cradling her gently.

"Gosh, you're so cold," Hunter murmured, rubbing at Lila's arms. "How long have you been out here for?"

"What?" Lila blinked, looking confused. "Where did you come from? What happened to the boy?"

Hunter blinked. _What boy? I didn't see any boy. Only Lila, who was standing there with such a dazed look on her face..._ "I popped out to get something," the crimson thunder ranger explained out loud. "And I noticed you standing here, as though in a trance. You need to be careful. Haven't you heard the news? There's a murderer on the loose."

Lila stared at him, all of the colour draining from her face. "A... murderer? I didn't know that..."

"Clearly, or you wouldn't have been out this late," Hunter responded. "Come on. I'll take you back to your home."

Lila looked up at him, a small smile tugging at her lips as she pushed the image of the boy to the back of her mind. It must have just been a hallucination. "Can't I come back to _your_ house?" she asked.

Hunter blinked. "I... I'm not sure that's wise," he admitted.

_He's remembering what happened the last time I stayed over._ Lila reached out to touch his hand. "I _promise_ that I won't freak out this time."

"It isn't that," Hunter told her. "I just don't think that it would be a good idea. We can see each other tomorrow, though."

Lila sighed, but nodded. "Ok," she said. "But I get to pick where we go," she added.

Hunter laughed. "Deal," he agreed, lowering his head to kiss her lightly on the mouth.

After a few moments, Hunter reluctantly pulled away, and then took Lila's hand. "Come on. We'd better get going."

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_Andros tipped the last bucket of water over the fire, and watched as it finally went out. He then breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness for that," he murmured._

_Next to him, the two unicorns collapsed to the ground, both obviously exhausted. But Andros wasn't worried about them. His main concern was Cally. Shouldn't she have come back by now?_

_After a moment's hesitation, the red space ranger made his way into the clearing where the water source the unicorns had been using was. It was very pretty, but Andros didn't notice its beauty. He stopped dead as he saw a familiar figure in the water._

_It was Cally, lying face down in the pool. And she wasn't moving._

_Without wasting a moment, Andros raced forward, and dragged Cally out of the water. Her eyes were closed._

_Andros knew straight away that she wasn't breathing. He had to try and get any water out of her lungs._

_Carefully, the red space ranger turned her over, and pressed hard on her back. A whole flood of water came out of her mouth, but she still wasn't breathing._

_Andros turned her back over, and breathed into her mouth, two breaths. Then, he started doing chest compressions._

"_Come on, you _can't_ die," Andros muttered. "You _have_ to live." He continued working on Cally, praying that it wasn't too late. "Come _on_! How are you supposed to tell Dustin how sorry you are if you're dead?!"_

_After what seemed like forever, Cally began coughing violently. She turned her head to the side and was sick. Then, she started crying weakly._

_But she was alive._

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After taking Lila back to her house, Hunter went back to his. He wasn't surprised that Blake hadn't returned. He and Tori were probably still with Dustin, trying to cheer the yellow wind ranger up.

After a few moments, there was a soft knock on the door.

Hunter got up to open it, and gasped.

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Read and review, please!


	21. Chapter Twenty One

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires

**RedFox:** -Glares at the author _and_ Apollo- They're not giving the characters a break...

**DarkAngel:** Did you expect them to? Once the author started bringing vampires into the story... Well, it gave her a whole load of new ideas. At least it means that she's not focusing the entire story on what's happening to Cally and Andros

**RedFox:** -Stares at him- You don't really mean that, do you?

**DarkAngel:** Nope

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** Hm, it would be, wouldn't it? This isn't your typical vampire, but a lot of the same rules apply to it. And the vampire wouldn't necessarily have to go _into_ the house –Grins-. Yeah, I know. Cliffhangers are evil, aren't they?

**CamFan4Ever:** I'm updating

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it

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"_Are you all right?" Andros asked with concern, helping Cally to her feet._

"_I guess so," the violet light ranger replied slowly. "I was dead, wasn't I?" She _sounded_ calm... But she really wasn't._

"_If you were, it was only for a few moments," Andros answered. "You're all right now, though. Do you remember anything of what happened?"_

"_Yes, but it wasn't a lot," Cally responded. "I was busy filling up the buckets... And then someone grabbed me and pushed my head underwater."_

"_Any idea of who it could have been?" Andros wanted to know._

_Cally gave him an odd look. "Not unless someone who hates me in _my_ world followed me here... That's probably not very likely." _Not that I _don't_ have loads of people hating me in my world.

"_Yeah, it probably isn't," Andros agreed. "But why _else_ would someone try to kill you?"_

"_I don't know." Cally shrugged. "Do you think that the unicorns know anything about what happened?"_

"_I doubt it," Andros replied. "When the fire was put out, they both collapsed. I think that carrying those buckets backwards and forwards tired them out quite a bit."_

"_Well, my arms ache from filling up all of those buckets," Cally muttered. "I guess we'd better go and find out what else we have to do from our unicorns." _The quicker I get out of this place, the better.

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Blake stared at Cam and Faye. "Wait. So, what you're saying is that Cally was actually _dead_?"

"No, she stopped breathing," Faye corrected him.

"Same difference." Blake shrugged.

"Actually, it's not," Cam responded. "If someone's stopped breathing, it _is_ possible to bring them back using CPR. Like if someone's been underwater for a long time, and has stopped breathing. Providing that you can get all of the water out of their lungs, that is."

"Well, it certainly wasn't _my_ CPR which brought her back," Faye said. "She _definitely_ wasn't breathing when I left."

"Are you _sure_ that she wasn't breathing when you left?" Cam questioned. "Because if she wasn't, then how on earth did she manage to start breathing again? She certainly couldn't have on her own."

"I don't know about that," Faye replied. "But I _do_ know that Cally was definitely _not_ breathing when I left her side to come here. I checked again and again, because I thought of how stupid I'd look if I came to get you and it turned out to be a false alarm."

_It did anyway,_ Cam thought to himself. _Then again... Is there any way that Cally could have stopped breathing in the Forest of Feelings, and then been brought back somehow? No way. That's impossible. The Scrolls were perfectly clear on _that_ point. Failing a challenge is certain death. There's no way for a person to be brought back once they've failed a challenge._

"You're not exactly a certified First Aider," Blake told Faye. "Maybe Cally _was_ breathing, but it was so faint that you didn't notice?"

"I _have_ taken a couple of First Aid lessons," Faye said. "I might not know a lot about First Aid, but I _do_ know how to check if someone's breathing or not. And Cally definitely wasn't."

Blake frowned slightly, and then looked at Cam. "Any way that she could have somehow been brought back in the Forest of Feelings?" the navy thunder ranger asked.

The green samurai ranger slowly shook his head. "If someone fails a challenge, then they die," he reminded Blake. "There's no coming back for them. No second chances. That's it."

"But what if it _wasn't_ a challenge?" Blake wanted to know. "What if someone there actually _wants_ Cally dead?"

Cam stared at Blake, wondering just what the implication of _that_ was.

All of the colour drained from Faye's face. "You mean that Cally may have even _more_ enemies than the ones she already knows about?"

Cam frowned slightly. "It appears so," he replied reluctantly. "But who in the Forest of Feelings could be twisting the Forest's true purpose? Because that _is_ what they're doing."

"Maybe it has something to do with this vampire-type creature that killed Kelly?" Blake suggested.

"I'm not entirely sure how likely that is," Cam said slowly. "It could just be that they are totally unrelated incidents." Of course, the green samurai ranger didn't _really_ believe that. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that Cally would end up in the Forest of Feelings, and then something very similar to a vampire would appear in Blue Bay Harbour.

Cam said as much out loud.

The orange light ranger frowned. "You mean that Cally may not have been supposed to end up in the Forest of Feelings at all?" she asked.

Cam nodded slowly. "At least, not at this moment," he added quickly. "It appears that someone might be tampering with the Forest, twisting its true purpose to meet their own ends."

"But why Cally?" Blake wanted to know. "Could she hold the key to what's going on with this vampire? Maybe whoever's been using the Forest for their own ends has deliberately put Cally out of the way for some reason?"

"But what if it's the Forest itself which has pulled Cally into it?" Faye suggested. "Maybe she wasn't meant to go _now_, but the Forest decided that it needed her for whatever reason."

"That _could_ be possible, I suppose," Cam admitted. _It makes a lot of sense. After all, if someone _was_ deliberately trying to get Cally out of the way, then why would they then attempt to kill her? It wouldn't make any sense. Not unless they wanted to make doubly sure that she couldn't do anything that might stop them from achieving their goals._

Blake sighed. "We need a way of seeing through Cally's eyes while she's in the Forest of Feelings," the navy thunder ranger commented.

Cam's eyes widened. "Blake, that's actually a good idea," he said excitedly. "Scientists have developed a way of watching someone's dreams. If we did that with Cally, then we stand a good chance of figuring out what could be going on, maybe even preventing something disastrous from happening."

"Can you actually set up something like that?" Faye asked. "And what about the other Power Rangers? Won't they find out Cally's true identity if you do something like that?"

"Not if I put her in the rec. room," Cam answered. "I can just tell the others that I'm doing some kind of experiment in there. They usually run a mile when I mention anything remotely scientific, so it should be all right."

"Oh, yeah," Blake laughed. He looked at the orange light ranger. "When Cam starts talking about technology, that's usually the time to get away as quickly as is humanly possible."

Cam opened his mouth to deliver a sarcastic reply, and then caught sight of the computer screen. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "Shane's just outside the secret entrance! He'll be inside in a few moments."

Faye's face blanched, and she looked around for somewhere to hide.

"Get under the table," Blake told Faye quickly. "Shane doesn't usually notice anything suspicious."

The orange light ranger slid under the table just in time as Shane raced into NinjaOps. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell, by his voice, that he was seriously worried or unhappy about something.

"Oh, good, you're here," Shane said shortly to Blake, sounding a little out of breath.

"Whoa, Shane, what's up?" Blake asked lightly. "What's the big rush?" Even as he spoke, the navy thunder ranger moved discreetly so that he was standing in front of the table, effectively hiding Faye should the red wind ranger suddenly decide to look there.

"There's a huge rush," Shane answered, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "Blake, I figured that you should be the first to know this"

The navy thunder ranger frowned. "Know what?" he asked. "Shane, what's wrong?" _Has something happened to Hunter? Or Tori?_

"It's Hunter," Shane said to Blake. "He's, well... Blake, the same thing happened to him that happened to Kelly."

Blake's face blanched. "NO!" he cried. "Hunter _can't_ be dead! There's been some kind of mistake! It's not possible!!!!!!!!!!"

Shane shot a quick glance at Cam, looking for help but finding none. He was the leader. It was his job to help the other Power Rangers.

"It _is_ possible," Shane told Blake in a soft voice.

"NO!!!!!" Blake wailed. A couple of tears slid down his cheeks. "They have to be mistaken! Hunter _can't_ be dead! He can't! He's my brother! He's always been there for me! HE'S NOT DEAD!"

Shane flinched a little at Blake's shout. "Blake, he _is_ dead," he said quietly. "I saw his body. He looked just like Dustin said Kelly's body looked like – drained completely of blood."

Blake lowered his head, his shoulders shaking slightly. "He _can't_ be dead," he whimpered. "He just can't. He promised me he'd always be there for me."

Shane exchanged glances with Cam, and then looked at the sobbing Blake. "Blake, I'm supposed to take you to the morgue," he said quietly. "I'll wait outside for you."

As soon as the red wind ranger was gone, Blake dragged Faye out from under the table, and, with his face right up close to hers, hissed, "You'd better _hope_ that you and Cam can find out what happened to my brother! I can't help getting the feeling that this is all to do with your friend. You get me justice, or I'll make you pay. Understand me?"

Without waiting for an answer, the navy thunder ranger shoved Faye against the table, and then stormed out of NinjaOps.

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"_No, it wasn't one of your challenges," Cally's unicorn told the violet light ranger._

"_I knew it," Andros muttered._

"_Is it even _related_ to one of my challenges?" Cally wanted to know._

_The two unicorns slowly shook their heads. "We don't know anything about why someone would try to kill you," Andros' unicorn told the two Power Rangers._

_The red space ranger thought for a moment. "_I_ think you do," he responded. "I don't think that you knew about Cally having an attempt made on her life _now_... But I think you knew that it was possible."_

_Cally stared at the red space ranger. "Andros, are you _sure_?" she wanted to know._

"_Positive," Andros answered. He stared hard at the two unicorns who were supposed to be their guides. "I think that you know way more than you're letting on," he told them._

"_We _can't_ tell you," Andros' unicorn said. "We're not allowed."_

_Cally's eyes widened. "I was never supposed to be here, was I?" she whispered, suddenly realising._

"_No, you weren't," Cally's unicorn admitted after a moment's hesitation. "At least, not yet. But then, something happened, and you _had_ to be brought here."_

"_What happened?" Andros wanted to know. He glanced quickly at Cally. She looked calm, but the red space ranger couldn't tell for sure._

"_We're not allowed to tell you," Andros' unicorn told them both. "It's against the rules. We could get into serious trouble."_

"_Is there something that I have to do?" Cally wondered._

_The two unicorns exchanged glances again._

_Andros sighed. "I guess we're not going to get any more information out of you two," he muttered. "Just... one thing. Is there anything either of you two can do to ensure that this won't happen again?"_

_Cally's unicorn shook its head._

"_In that case, I think that it should be made one of the challenges," Andros told them. "Otherwise, it isn't fair."_

_"Done," Andros' unicorn responded after a moment's hesitation. "You will have to follow us to the area, though."_

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Blake collapsed on the couch, feeling all cried out, though his eyes felt gritty, like they were filled with sand.

Blake had just got off the phone to Lila. She hadn't taken the news very well, but had at least _tried_ to be sympathetic towards the navy thunder ranger. She had asked if it would be all right for her and her brother to come to the funeral. Not wanting to be rude, Blake had said yes, but had told her that the funeral couldn't take place for a little while as the coroners were still looking into some things.

_How am I going to go on without him?_ Blake wondered, wiping at his eyes. Guess he wasn't so cried out after all. More tears were sliding down his cheeks.

The navy thunder ranger's thoughts flashed briefly on Faye and Cam. _They'd _better_ find out who killed my brother! I _have_ to avenge his murder. Hunter would do no less for me._

Blake heard the doorbell go, and got up. For a moment, he considered leaving it. But what was the point? There was no point in anything now.

Blake opened the door, and stared in shock. "What are _you_ doing here?"

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Read and review, please!


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**BlueAngel07:** There _is_ going to be more Blake/Tori at some point, so don't worry

**Jorgitosbabe:** Glad you liked it, and I'm glad you're ok . I was worried that something may have happened to you

**CamFan4Ever:** -Takes DarkCat back- You know, if you wanted to, you could use her for help on FYL II . Anyways, thanks for reviewing

**garnetred:** Lol, glad you like this fic . I'm really bad at writing loads of cliffhangers, so there won't be that many of them. Probably. Hopefully

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"Blake's dead."

Shane looked up at Tori from where he had been pestering Cam about the so-called 'secretive work' the green samurai ranger was doing. "What?"

"Blake's dead," Tori repeated, looking extremely close to tears, which was very unlike her. "It looks like it was the same person who murdered Kelly and Hunter. I went round his house, and the door was open... And he was just lying on the floor with his eyes wide open, completely pale." She put a hand to her mouth, her eyes shimmering with barely held-back tears.

"Oh, Tor." Shane came over to the blue wind ranger and hugged her gently, though he knew that no amount of sympathy would bring his friend comfort. She'd lost her boyfriend. That was harsh.

Cam flinched at Tori's words, and looked at his computer screen. "There's been other deaths, too," he said in a low voice. "The police think that the deaths are gang-related, with more than one person responsible."

"Only, there are no gangs here," Tori replied in a low voice. "I want to _get_ the person, or people, responsible for this!"

Cam remembered Blake's words to Faye before the navy thunder ranger had stormed out of NinjaOps. He had been insistent that the killer of his brother be found and brought to justice. But if it _was_ a vampire, then how could it be found? And what possible connection could Cally, Dustin's ex-girlfriend, have with such a creature of darkness?

Faye obviously didn't know. The only person who might have any idea of the connection was Cally, but the violet light ranger wasn't going to be any help considering the comatose state she was in.

"Cam, are you all right?" Shane wanted to know. "You've got this really thoughtful expression on your face, like you're thinking of a theory for something, or something like that."

The green samurai ranger hesitated. _Should I tell them?_ he wondered. _I _know_ that I promised Faye I wouldn't... But there are people being murdered seemingly all over the place, and three of them are people that we know._

Then, Cam's eyes narrowed slightly. Was it possible that _Faye_ could be responsible for the deaths? She didn't _seem_ like the sort of person who would do something like that... But you could never tell, could you? After all, if you _knew_ that someone was a killer, then you'd be able to stop them from murdering other people, wouldn't you? And, considering what Cally was going through with her depression, it would hardly be surprising if the orange light ranger decided to get revenge on the people she believed to be responsible for her friend's condition.

There were only two problems that Cam could see with that analogy. Firstly, Faye had only met Hunter and Blake _after_ she and Cally had returned to Blue Bay Harbour. There was no reason for the orange light ranger to want them dead. Not unless she had decided that Hunter and Blake were somehow contributing to the pain Cally was going through. The same went for Kelly, though Faye could have meant to go after Dustin, and mistaken the shop owner for the yellow wind ranger in the darkness. She had, after all, been surprised that Kelly was the one who had been murdered.

Then, of course, there was the whole vampire business. After all, if you were going to frame someone else for murders you had committed, why would you go for supernatural creatures that hardly anyone believed really existed?

Cam heaved an inaudible sigh. All of those ideas were making his head spin. He had no idea whether Faye was good or bad. He could ask her about it, but that could cause the orange light ranger to either feel that he thought she was the murderer, or for her to think that he knew too much and to then kill him.

"Cam?" Shane asked. "You've gone really pale. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," the green samurai ranger replied shortly. "Just a little... disturbed over all of these deaths." Well, that was the truth, as far as it went. He decided not to mention his suspicions to the others just yet. If there was nothing to worry about, then he'd just look like an idiot... If there _was_ something to worry about, he could cause the orange light ranger to become suspicious.

Even so, Cam felt a chill creep up his back. He wasn't keen to be left alone with Faye unless he was _sure_ that she wasn't a killer. He decided that he would ask his father to stay with him whenever Faye came.

Cam had to wonder, though. Who would the killers go after next?

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"Lila, are you all right?" Peter asked his sister softly, his eyes showing his concern for her.

"No," Lila replied shortly. "I'm _not_ all right. Didn't you hear the news, Peter? Hunter's dead. Some sick person's murdered him, made it look like some kind of vampire killing."

"I know," Peter said in a low voice. It tore at his heart to see his sister like that. He'd tried to suggest going shopping to her, but she'd just thrown a cushion at him. He'd been able to dodge it easily, but he felt bad for her.

"The police are looking into it," Peter reminded the silver silk ranger. "They'll catch whoever did it. They'll catch him, and they'll put him away in prison where he belongs." The brown silk ranger sounded much more certain than he really felt.

"Yeah, well, the police will probably be round here at some point," Lila muttered with a deadly certainty.

"Why?" Peter asked with raised eyebrows. _She doesn't think that they suspect _her_ for the murder... Does she?_

Lila laughed bitterly. "Because I was quite possibly the last person to see him alive," she answered. "Besides whoever murdered him, of course."

"Of course," Peter murmured. He bit his lip slightly, and inwardly cursed whoever had murdered Hunter. First their parents, and now Lila's boyfriend. When was it all going to end?

A couple of tears slid down Lila's cheeks. "Oh, Peter," she sobbed softly. "Why is all of this happening to us? I lo... _liked_ Hunter. And now he's dead, and he was the best thing that happened to me."

_She almost said that she loved him,_ Peter knew. His sister could hide her true feelings from herself, but not from her own brother. Lila had somehow managed to fall in love with Hunter Bradley, and now his death was ripping her apart.

Peter jumped as the doorbell suddenly went, and then glanced at Lila, who had suddenly sat up straight.

"It's the police," Lila whispered in a strained voice. She knuckled at her eyes, wiping away the stray tears that had escaped, and attempted to look composed.

Her effort almost broke Peter's heart.

"It might not be the police," Peter replied with a calmness he didn't really feel. "It might be a good idea to get a tissue, though. Clean yourself up a bit. Make yourself presentable." Peter was taking charge. It was something that came naturally to him. Lila said that he was a control freak, but he wasn't. Not really. He just tried to look out for his sister and make sure that she was all right. That she didn't get herself into trouble that she couldn't handle.

Peter walked to the front door, and opened it.

Lila had been right. It was the police. There were two officers – one male, and one female.

"Can I help you?" Peter asked without much warmth. The last thing his sister needed was someone grilling her on what happened when she last saw Hunter. And what she _definitely_ did not need was the police thinking that she may have had something to do with his death.

"Peter Kenring?" the male police officer asked.

"Yeah, that's me," Peter answered shortly, stepping back to let the officers enter the house. "I think I know why you're here. Let me just say, for the record, that my sister had nothing to do with the murder of Hunter Bradley."

"We know that," the female police officer answered, extending a hand towards Peter. "I'm Officer Harley... Please call me Sharon." Sharon was reasonably pretty, with auburn hair cut into a short bob and wide green eyes. She had some freckles on her cheeks, which made her look younger than she actually was. Her grip was firm, though her fingers were cold.

"I'm her partner, Jim Jacobs," the male police officer put in, also extending his hand for Peter to shake.

Jim was tall with short brown hair and hazel eyes with rugged features. Clearly, he worked out a lot. He was large, but muscular rather than bulky. He had quite a strong grip. The brown silk ranger felt that, had he wanted to, Officer Jacobs could have broken every one of his fingers without breaking a sweat.

"You're here to ask me about Hunter's death, aren't you?"

Peter glanced up to see Lila hovering in the doorway leading to the lounge. He was quite proud to see that she had managed to completely compose herself. She looked unhappy, but she appeared to have her tears under control for the most part.

"You must be Lila Kenring," Sharon smiled. "We're just here to ask a few questions. You're not a suspect or anything like that, so don't worry."

Peter regarded the two police officers carefully, wondering if they were going to do a 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' routine. He didn't think so. Neither Sharon nor Jim looked particularly aggressive. But Peter wasn't going to relax just yet. If either officer started accusing his sister of being a murderer, he was going to get mad.

"What questions do you want to ask me?" Lila asked softly.

"Why don't we go and sit down?" Jim suggested.

Lila shrugged, and stood aside so that the two police officers could enter the lounge. Once they had, she settled herself down on the sofa, while Jim and Sharon sat down in two of the armchairs. It was a safe, comfortable distance. They weren't crowding Lila, but neither were they sitting at too large a distance away from her.

"Would anyone like a drink?" Peter asked.

Lila shook her head slowly. She was too sick with nerves. Though she had expected the police to want to talk to her, it was still a shock to have them actually arrive here. Nervously, the silver silk ranger ran through her mind anything she might have done that was illegal, and couldn't think of anything.

"Any cold drink will do me fine," Sharon smiled at Peter.

"I'll just have a coffee," Jim said.

Peter nodded, and moved into the kitchen.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cam and Faye studied the images on the computer screen. So far, they weren't really seeing much. Just a forest path and two unicorns plus a blond-haired male.

"So, are we looking at this scene through Cally's eyes?" Faye wanted to know.

Cam nodded slowly. "We're seeing what she sees," he replied.

The violet light ranger had been laid on the bed in the rec. room. There was a metal helmet-type contraption on her head which had wires going from it into the computer in there, enabling them to see what she saw in her so-called dreams.

"Are you _sure_ that this won't have any nasty side-effects on Cally?" Faye asked, her eyes flashing with concern.

"Yes, I'm sure," the green samurai ranger sighed. "She should be fine." _If she ever actually wakes up,_ Cam added darkly to himself. But he said nothing out loud. He didn't want to upset Faye or make her mad at him. Especially not if she could be the one going around killing people.

"I can't _believe_ that Blake's been murdered too," Faye commented, her eyes watching the events unfolding on the screen. For some reason, there wasn't any sound, so both she and Cam had to try and lip-read whenever they saw the male's lips moving in silent speech.

Cam shot the orange light ranger a quick, appraising glance. "Well, he _did_ technically threaten you," the green samurai ranger pointed out.

"Yeah, but I can't really blame him for that," Faye responded. "His brother _had_ just been killed, after all. He was quite understandably upset."

Cam eyed Faye carefully. _Is she telling the truth?_ he wondered. _Or is she just trying to get herself off the hook and stop me from suspecting her?_

"What's wrong?" Faye asked, noting the way that Cam was looking at her and not liking it one bit.

"Nothing," Cam replied shortly, looking away again. He couldn't very well tell Faye his suspicions of her.

"It's not nothing," Faye frowned. "Cam, please tell me what's bothering you? We can't really work well together if something's bothering you."

"We can't really work well together if you're a murderer, either," Cam muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately, Faye heard him. She stared. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

Cam shrugged slightly. "I just wonder if _you_ could be the murderer," he responded, noticing his father standing just in the doorway and feeling slightly better for him being there, even if he _was_ a guinea pig.

"That's totally ridiculous!" Faye snapped. "Why would _I_ be the murderer? What possible motive could I have?"

"Revenge for your friend's depression, for one," Cam answered. "And as for Blake? Well, that's simple. He threatened you."

The orange light ranger scowled. "Oh, the human brain is a fine invention," she muttered. "Look for any other explanation except for the most logical one. The one that's right in front of your nose."

Cam knew without asking that Faye was talking about the theory that the murderer was a vampire. But he merely shrugged. "Draining blood would be quite a simple trick to manage."

Faye threw her hands up into the air, an exasperated look on her face. "I'm _not_ a murderer!" she insisted. "There's no evidence to prove that I am."

"No, there's not," Cam agreed. "But there's no evidence to point to _anyone_ being a murderer." _Except for a vampire,_ the green samurai ranger added silently to himself. _There's plenty of evidence to point to the fact that a vampire is the murderer... Except for one small problem. Vampires aren't supposed to exist._

"Ok, I can't prove that I'm _not_ the murderer," Faye was saying. "But I say that I'm not. Will you at least _try_ to believe me, Cam? At this point, we need to work together rather than be enemies. It's important that we at least _try_ to trust each other. Will you please try, Cam?"

The green samurai ranger hesitated for a long moment. Then, he sighed. "All right," he replied. "I can try."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tori walked quietly down the street after leaving Dustin and Shane, still feeling the tears on her cheeks.

_Why did Blake have to die?_ the blue wind ranger wondered. _It's not fair! He didn't deserve to die! It wasn't his time._

Tori wiped at her eyes, and took several deep breaths. It didn't help much, though. She suddenly felt as though she couldn't get enough air. She was pretty sure she knew what this was. Hyperventilating.

_Oh, Blake,_ Tori thought sadly. _Why did you have to leave me? I love you so much. I don't think I can go on without you. I thought that being Power Rangers meant that it was more difficult to kill us. It turns out that that was wrong. It's just as easy to kill us no matter _what_ we are._

Tori suddenly felt something slam into her back, knocking her to her knees. It felt like someone, or something, had rammed her from behind. It wasn't a car or anything like that, though. At least, she was _pretty_ sure that it wasn't. The pain wasn't that serious.

Tori slowly got up to face her attacker, and then her mouth dropped open in shock as she recognised him.

"Blake?"

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Read and review, please!


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires

**DarkAngel:** -Sighs- You'd think that with DarkCat back, our author would ditch Apollo... But _no_

**RedFox:** She's probably just doing it to annoy you

**Apollo:** -Shrugs slightly- She likes the ideas I give her. What more can I say

**DarkCat:** -Looks at the other three muses, and sighs, and then sends the author a telepathic picture of _all_ of them fighting each other

**Replies to reviews:**

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it

**garnetred:** Well, that will be revealed later on... Like much of everything else in this fic. Lol. Thanks for reviewing

**Jorgitosbabe:** Well, if you _had_ seen that coming, I would have been worried. I was trying not to give anything away about that. Thanks for reviewing

**CamFan4Ever:** Well, I'm not using the original concept for vampires... But Blake _is_, for all intents and purposes, an example of my modified form of vampires

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Tori stared at the person who had just knocked her to the ground. "Blake?" she repeated.

It _was_ Blake... But also, at the same time, it _wasn't_ him.

Tori couldn't say exactly how she knew that. Partly, it was to do with the way he had just knocked her to the ground for no reason. But it was also partly to do with his eyes.

Blake's eyes had _always_ held a special warmth for Tori, even when Lothor had made him and Hunter believe that the wind rangers' Sensei had destroyed their parents. The only time the warmth _hadn't_ been there had been when Lothor had changed Blake and Hunter's memories to make them think that Tori, Shane, and Dustin were their enemies.

And now, the warmth was gone again.

_Did_ Lothor_ do something to Blake?_ Tori wondered. _But how can he have? And Blake's _dead_. I saw his body. So this _can't_ be Blake._

_But if it's _not_ Blake, then who else could it be?_

"Yeah, that's my name," Blake replied, his voice cold. "But how do _you_ know what my name is?!"

_He doesn't remember me,_ Tori realised with a trace of sadness. _Oh, great. This is going to be _so_ difficult to deal with. Psycho Blake is starting to get _really_ old._

"Well, we _do_ kind of know each other," Tori muttered. She almost said that they were sort of dating, but decided that that probably wasn't the best thing to say under the circumstances.

"Well, we're enemies," Blake responded in a cool tone. "Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!" The navy thunder ranger morphed. "Power of thunder!"

Tori glanced around, and saw that there weren't many people around. Those that _were_ around didn't seem to be paying much attention to what was going on.

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!" Tori morphed into her Power Ranger form. "Power of water!" _There's no other way,_ Tori knew. _I'm going to _have_ to fight him._

Blake raced towards the blue wind ranger, and lashed out at her in a kick that connected with her right arm.

Tori blocked a punch, and punched with her other fist, hitting Blake's shoulder. The navy thunder ranger grunted a little, and stepped back, but quickly retaliated with a kick to Tori's hip.

The fight seemed to go on for ages, but probably only lasted for a few minutes. Tori wasn't doing very well against Blake, not least because she didn't want to actually hurt him. Then, of course, there was the fact that Blake was a slightly better fighter than she was.

Blake caught hold of Tori's arm, and yanked her off balance against him.

"Blake, stop!" Tori pleaded, twisting out of his grip. "What's gotten into you?! Why are you fighting me?!"

"You wouldn't understand," the navy thunder ranger answered in a flat voice.

"The Blake I know would never try to harm me!" Tori declared, conveniently forgetting that he _had_ tried on a number of different occasions.

"I am not the Blake you know," Blake replied. "I have become more powerful. _Much_ more powerful than anyone could have possibly imagined!" A laugh escaped him, but it wasn't a nice laugh.

Tori felt icy fingers of fear trail up her spine, and glanced round. _Where are Shane and Dustin when I need them?_ She was pretty sure that _this_ Blake would be perfectly happy to hurt, even kill, her. It didn't matter that there were witnesses around. Blake was different now.

_I_ have_ to get away from him! I can't let him kill me, or make me like him, if that's what he's planning._

Tori backed away from the navy thunder ranger, and spoke into her morpher. "Dustin, Shane, I need you!"

Almost immediately, the other two wind rangers, already morphed, streaked towards the scene. Cam must have seen what was happening and warned them.

For just a moment, Blake seemed surprised to see the yellow and red wind rangers arrive. Then, he started to laugh. "Oh, this is going to be sweet!" he exclaimed. "I get to kill three birds with one stone. My master will reward me well."

_Master? What does he mean by master?_ Tori wondered. _Is he talking about whoever's made him act like this?_

"Well, dude, there's, like, three of us, and only one of you," Dustin pointed out.

The navy thunder ranger didn't seem to be too bothered by that. "My master has imbued me with more power than you can possibly imagine," he replied. "I am more than a match for you three."

"What master are you talking about?" Shane wanted to know.

"You'll soon see," Blake answered. Then, he gave a horrible laugh. "What am I saying? You won't see who my master is, because you'll all be dead!"

Tori felt afraid. _Very_ afraid. And she had to wonder. If _Blake_ was like this, did that mean that the other people who had supposedly been murdered were like this as well?

The thought scared Tori more than she would ever admit. On the one hand, it meant that at least the people were still alive, and that there could be a way of bringing them back. But on the other hand...

Tori dreaded to think what would happen with a whole load of people all serving a particular master. And how could one individual have amassed such power as to have control over every person killed?

_The logical conclusion to make is that every one of these poor people who have been killed have been brought back as vampires,_ Tori thought to herself. _If that _was_ what killed these people, that is... If it was, then that would mean that the whole thing about vampires burning in direct sunlight isn't true, because, as far as I can see, Blake isn't burning at all._

_Unless, of course, this creature is something that's _similar_ to a vampire, but not quite like one._

"Tor, we're not going to be able to fight him," Shane said in a low voice. "Even if we _could_... Well, I'm pretty sure that none of us want to have to fight Blake, no matter what he appears to have become."

Tori nodded her agreement, not taking her eyes off of the navy thunder ranger, who was hesitating, apparently unsure of just who to attack.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sharon and Jim waited until Peter returned with the drinks to start questioning the silver silk ranger.

Peter sat down next to Lila, but didn't say anything. He was there for support, but he wasn't going to interfere unless his sister actually wanted him to.

Sharon sipped her drink for a moment or two before asking, "Just how well did you know the victim, Miss. Kenring?"

"Please, call me Lila," the silver silk ranger murmured.

Sharon smiled gently. "Lila, then," she replied.

"We were sort of dating," Lila explained. "Not for very long, though."

"How did you first meet Mr. Bradley?" Jim questioned.

"Um..." Lila shot Peter a slightly apprehensive glance. Not because she had been doing anything that she thought he might disapprove of, Peter realised. He knew that look. She didn't want to tell him for a reason, a good reason.

"Would you like me to leave the room?" Peter asked in a soft tone.

Lila quickly shook her head. "No, it's all right," she responded. She then looked at the two police officers. "I went into Storm Chargers, which is where Hunter was working," she told them. "I was looking for a birthday present for my brother." Lila nodded towards Peter, presumably in case the police officers thought that they had another brother.

"I see." Sharon nodded. "I assume that your brother is into bikes, then?"

Lila nodded slowly. "Yes, he is," she answered.

Peter cleared his throat in order to remind the two women that he was still in the room.

Jim grinned at the brown silk ranger. "Yeah, I know what that's like," he commented. "Sharon talks about me like I'm not in the room all the time."

Sharon smiled, and poked her partner lightly in the side. "That's because you always stay so quiet," she joked. Then, abruptly turning serious again, she asked Lila, "Was your relationship with the victim serious?"

Lila flinched, and Peter knew why. She wasn't happy with Hunter being referred to as 'the victim'. It was almost like, now that he was dead, Hunter wasn't worthy of being referred to by name or even 'he'.

"Well, we didn't have sex or anything like that," Lila admitted in a low voice, blushing a little. "But we did kiss a lot. I once stayed round his house because it was too late to go back home, but I slept in the spare room." She paused, and then added, "We got into an argument the next morning."

"What was the argument about?" Jim questioned, suddenly leaning forward.

Peter bristled slightly. He didn't like the officer's tone. They weren't going to start accusing Lila of murdering Hunter just because she had a row with him, were they?

Sharon noticed Peter's expression, and reached out to touch him lightly on his arm. "Take it easy," she told him. "Jim is just asking your sister a question."

Peter met and held the officer's gaze. "My sister did _not_ kill Hunter," he said in a sharp tone.

Sharon moved back slightly, her expression a little confused. "We don't think that she did," she answered.

Peter slowly shook his head. "That's a load of bull," he replied. "I can see the look on your partner's face. He's thinking that the whole argument thing gives my sister a motive for murdering Hunter. Lila is _not_ a murderer." Never mind that they had been told to kill the other Power Rangers for Lothor in order to get their parents back. That was different.

"We really shouldn't tell you this, but there was something which looked a lot like bite marks in the victim's neck," Jim explained to Peter. "He was drained completely of blood. And there are not many people who would be able to do something like that. We are guessing that the murders are gang-related."

"There have been other murders?" Peter demanded sharply.

"Hunter mentioned that when I saw him last," Lila murmured. Then, she apparently seemed to think of something, because she asked, "Have there been any children reported missing at all?"

Sharon thought for a moment, and then slowly shook her head. "None that _I_ know of," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Just before Hunter turned up, I saw a little boy," Lila explained. "He was probably around eleven or twelve, with white-blonde hair. He left when Hunter arrived, though."

Sharon nodded slowly. "I'll look into it, and let you know if I find out anything," she told Lila. Then, she stood up, and said, with some regret, "We had better get going now. We've got quite a lot to do."

Jim nodded, and stood up as well after draining his drink. The two officers shook hands with Lila and Peter, and then left.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Lila lay in her bed, unable to get to sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Hunter's face.

Lila sat up, and buried her face in her hands. "Why'd you have to die?" she whispered. The last thing she needed was for Peter to overhear her and ask why she was talking to herself. He'd probably understand, but the silver silk ranger still felt self-conscious doing so.

At that moment, Lila felt her parents' loss keenly. She wished that they were here, so that she could hug them and hear them tell her that everything was going to be all right.

Of course, if Lila and Peter's parents _had_ still been around, then Lila and Peter would never have come to Blue Bay Harbour, and Lila would never have met the one person she felt who truly cared about her besides her family. Who would love her no matter _what_ she did.

_Is it better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all?_ Lila wondered. It wasn't a question she had asked herself at all before... But then, nothing like this had ever happened before.

_I wish that Peter and I had never become Power Rangers!_ Lila thought with sudden vehemence. _None of this would have happened if we had never even heard of the wretched Power Rangers! I would never have met and fallen in love with Hunter... But then, I never would have lost him, either._

Lila drew her knees up to her chest, and pressed her face into them, shaking a little. She wanted her parents more than anything. She wanted to hug them and believe that everything would be all right again.

_Lila._

Hearing her name being called, the silver silk ranger glanced up, wondering how her brother had gotten into her room without her noticing. Then again, that wasn't really _that_ surprising considering the state she was in at that precise moment. A whole herd of elephants could rampage through her room, and she probably wouldn't even notice them.

There was no one there.

Lila frowned, and wondered if perhaps she was going mad. But then, she heard the whisper again.

_Lila._

It was coming from the window. Lila was sure of it. Frowning, she glanced towards the window, and thought, for just an instant, that she saw a pale face outside. Then, it was gone.

Lila trembled, feeling suddenly and inexplicably scared. "Go away," she whimpered, curling into a ball on her bed.

_Lila please let me in. I love you._

"Go away," Lila repeated, rocking slightly. "I know that I'm just imaging you. Please go away!"

_Lila._

The silver silk ranger glanced up again, and turned white.

Hunter was hovering just outside her window.

"No, go away," Lila whispered. "You're dead!"

_You can see that I'm not, Lila. Please let me in?_

"But your body..." Lila began.

Hunter waved one hand impatiently. _A trick. Surely you must realise that. You know that I would never leave you. I love you too much._ His eyes were filled with love.

Lila hesitated. Then, she got up, and slowly unlatched the window. "Please come in," she said in a soft voice.

Hunter stepped over the sill, and pulled Lila into a tight hug. The silver silk ranger began crying.

"Shh, don't cry," Hunter murmured. "It's going to be all right. Everything's going to be fine."

"How can you know that?" Lila whimpered, holding tightly to Hunter, never wanting to let him go.

"Because everything will be," Hunter replied. "You can trust me, Lila. I'll look after you."

Lila suddenly felt something sharp brush against her throat, and stiffened. She remembered what Jim had said about the bite marks on Hunter's throat, and the way he looked as though he had been completely drained of blood. She remembered, and her thoughts told her, _Vampire. Hunter's a vampire. Or, if not a _proper_ vampire, something quite close to it._

Lila opened her mouth, and screamed.

Hunter's teeth bit into Lila's throat, and the silver silk ranger felt a wave of dizziness spread throughout her entire body. She screamed again, for her brother, as she felt her lifeblood being drawn out of her.

Suddenly, Lila felt a tearing pain as she was pulled away from Hunter. She clapped one hand to her neck, feeling dazed. _How much blood did he take? Enough to turn me into something like him?_

"RUN!" Peter yelled at his sister as the angry vampire began to stalk towards him. "I'll distract him."

"But what about you?" Lila cried.

"Just go!" Peter yelled. He backed towards Lila, and shoved her hard out of her bedroom door. "Run!"

Lila ran, but not before seeing vampire-Hunter grab her brother and lower his head to the brown silk ranger's neck.

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_As they followed the two unicorns, Andros and Cally took the opportunity to get to know each other a little better._

_Andros told Cally about his friends, including Ashley and Karone. In return, Cally told him about _her_ friends, though Dustin could hardly be classed as a 'friend'._

_Cally was fascinated by the fact that Andros was from another planet. She asked him a lot of questions about what his planet was like, what he thought of humans, what his culture was like, and a lot of other topics. Andros answered all of the violet light ranger's questions patiently, asking his own about the Ninja schools and what Cally knew of Lothor, which wasn't a lot other than that he wanted to take over the entire earth._

_The two were so caught up in conversation that they didn't realise that the unicorns had stopped until one of them said, with a slight trace of amusement, "We're here."_

_Cally and Andros glanced up, and saw that the unicorns had led them to a small hut._

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Read and review, please!


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires 

**Replies to reviews:**

****

**BlueAngel07:** Yep, they are . Thanks for reviewing 

**Jorgitosbabe:** Well, if I don't make it interesting, people are going to stop reading it . So, each chapter has to be reasonably interesting 

**garnetred:** Well, the only Power Ranger Lila knows the identity of is Cally. And she can't go to _her_ because she's technically not around. Anyways, there's a particular reason why Lila doesn't know the other Power Rangers' identity yet... 

**CamFan4Ever:** I'm updating! Lol 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Lila ran. 

She wasn't sure exactly _where_ she was running to. The silver silk ranger hadn't been in Blue Bay Harbour long enough to get to know which places were safe and which weren't. 

It was raining. 

Lila had only been able to stop just long enough to grab a coat, so her feet were bare, and she kept on sliding on the pavement.__

_Is Peter dead?_ Lila wondered. The silver silk ranger had always felt that she'd _know_ if her brother died... And she hadn't felt anything.__

_That wasn't Hunter,_ Lila tried to tell herself. _Hunter would _never_ do something like that. Especially not to me or my brother._

Lila knew that with a cold certainty. But she still had a hard time believing it. First, Hunter had seemed to be dead. Now, it seemed like there was a mistake. Hunter was back... But it looked like he had been _changed_ somehow. 

Lila finally slowed to a walk, confident that if Hunter hadn't caught up to her by now, he probably wouldn't for some time.__

_All right, now let's think about this logically,_ Lila told herself. _Hunter appears to be some kind of... vampire, as much as that seems impossible._

At that thought, Lila suddenly remembered Hunter sinking what had to be his fangs into her throat. She put her hand up to her neck, where Hunter had bitten her, which felt quite tender. She then looked at her fingertips, and couldn't see any blood there. Good. The wound must have stopped bleeding, then. It can't have been very deep. Then again, how deep _could_ vampire teeth go?__

_How do the vampires spread?_ Lila wondered. _I'm_ sure_ that a simple bite doesn't turn someone into a vampire... Does it?_ The silver silk ranger had to wonder which vampire legends were true, and which were just myths. 

Lila realised that she was outside a 24-hour cafe. 

She felt in the pockets of the coat she was wearing, and felt relieved when she discovered that she'd grabbed the coat with her purse inside. _That_ would turn out to be very handy. She wasn't going to get very far without money or her identification. 

Lila walked into the cafe, and took a seat, ignoring the stares she got from the few people already sitting in there. She supposed that she looked odd, what with the fact that she wasn't wearing any shoes, and her hair was all messed up. Then, of course, she was wearing her nightdress under her coat, which, considering how short it was, probably looked like she was wearing a really short skirt underneath, or possibly nothing. 

The silver silk ranger scanned the menu. There wasn't a lot to have this time of night, though coffee would be a good idea. She didn't like it, but it _would_ go quite a way towards helping to keep her awake. Much better than coke would. Then, of course, there was the _other_ problem. The rather obvious problem.__

_Where on earth am I going to be able to stay?_ Lila wondered. _I suppose a hotel would be a good idea... But I'd only be able to stay a couple of nights before my money runs out. I guess I should probably try and get a job. After I get some clothes, that is..._

"What would you like, hon?" a female voice asked, cutting into Lila's thoughts. 

Lila looked up at a woman who was quite older than she was and a little plump, more motherly than seriously overweight. She had soft brown eyes and black hair, touched with grey, pulled into a loose ponytail. 

The woman's expression suddenly became concerned. "Oh, honey, did your boyfriend hurt you?" she asked.__

_My boyfriend?_ Lila thought a little fuzzily. _Oh, she means the bite on my neck,_ the silver silk ranger realised. 

Lila hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to tell this woman. _I should tell the truth as far as possible,_ she decided after a moment. 

"I got bitten," Lila answered out loud. "By a... wild dog." She silently apologised to Hunter for referring to him as a 'wild dog'... She couldn't exactly tell the whole truth, though. 

The woman winced a little. "You should get it seen to," she commented. "Get a doctor to look at it. It could turn bad." 

"I'm sure it'll be all right," Lila smiled. "The... dog's had all of its shots." 

"Is there a particular reason why you're not wearing any shoes?" the woman questioned. 

"Um... I had to rush out of my house really quickly," Lila admitted. "I'd... really rather not talk about it." No one would believe her, anyway. Why should they? Vampires weren't supposed to exist. The moment she mentioned anything about what had _really_ happened to her, she'd be packed up to the nearest mental hospital as quickly as possible. 

"Oh, all right." The woman looked a little disappointed, and Lila wondered if she had been looking for gossip. "What would you like to order?" the woman wanted to know. "Unless you've not finished looking yet, of course," she added. 

"I'd like a cappuccino and a ham sandwich, please," Lila replied. She hesitated a moment, then asked, "Should I pay _now_, or after I've finished the food?" 

"You can pay once you've finished," the woman shrugged. Lila saw from her name badge that her name was Sally. "I'll just go and get your order," Sally said, turning and walking into the kitchen area. 

While she was gone, Lila kept her head down. She could feel everyone staring at her, and she didn't like it at all. She didn't particularly like being the center of attention. Knowing her luck, one of the people here would probably come and ask her what had happened to her if she made eye contact with any of them. So that was the _last_ thing she was going to do. She didn't feel up to fielding awkward questions.__

_What can I do now?_ Lila wondered as she waited for her food. _I have to try and enlist help... But how? I can't just put a poster up or something like that. I guess my first priority is getting some clothes,_ Lila decided. _I am _not_ going to wander around town in nothing but my nightdress and a coat! For one thing, it would get smelly. For another, people would probably guess at what I was really wearing. I guess my next priority will have to be finding a place to stay and then getting a job so that I have some sort of income coming in._

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_Andros glanced sideways at Cally, who was staring at the hut in front of them like she was worried it was going to bite them.___

_"You ok?" Andros asked Cally.___

_The violet light ranger nodded slowly, her eyes fastened on the hut. She couldn't look away even if she wanted to. "I... guess so," she answered. "I just don't like the look of this place. It's creepy. What's something like this doing in the Forest of Feelings?"___

_"I know what you mean," Andros responded. "I somehow get the feeling that this hut doesn't belong here."___

_"You're right," one of the unicorns said from behind the two Power Rangers in a soft voice. "This hut _doesn't_ belong here. Houses aren't supposed to be built here. The trees... aren't supposed to be cut down by _anyone 

_Andros and Cally turned round to look at the two unicorns._

_"What do you mean?" Andros asked with some confusion.___

_"This house was built from dead trees," Andros' unicorn explained. "The creator of this house chopped down a lot of trees to build this place... As a symbol of pure power."___

_"Who built it?" Cally wanted to know.___

_The two unicorns exchanged glances. Clearly, neither of them wanted to actually say anything. They'd avoid answering if they could.___

_"Come on, tell us!" Andros snapped. "You brought Cally here to do something, didn't you?"___

_"Actually, it was _both_ of you who needed to be here," Cally's unicorn replied softly, lowering her head. "But we didn't know that until after you two had teamed up together."___

_"Why didn't you tell us?" Andros questioned, his voice dangerously low.___

_"We were forbidden to do so," Andros' unicorn told Andros and Cally. "You have to understand. The ones who make the rules... If we disobey, we will be punished."___

_"But some of the rules are just silly," Cally objected. "In any case, I thought that the _unicorns_ were the ones who made the rules."___

_"No, we don't," Cally's unicorn said. "We have to follow the rules just like every other animal in this forest."___

_"Well, could you _ask_, or whatever, if we're allowed to know about whoever built this blasted hut?" Andros wanted to know, fast getting impatient. He was missing his friends a lot, and he really wanted to see them again.___

_The unicorns exchanged glances again, then Andros' unicorn concentrated for a long moment, its head on one side as though it was listening to something. Finally, it nodded. "We can tell you," it said. "But we have to be quick."___

_"We understand," Andros replied. "Just please tell us what's going on."___

_"The builder of that hut was a wizard," Cally's unicorn explained to the two Power Rangers. "Everything in this forest has magic inside of it. Only, the magic is supposed to leave once the living thing holding it dies."___

_"This wizard found a way of keeping the magic inside the trees once they had been killed." Andros' unicorn took over the telling of the story. "So he cut a whole load down, and built this hut. The hut has now become a focal point for magic, and the wizard has been trying to get even more powerful."___

_"How could he do that?" Cally wanted to know.___

_"He will take all of the good out of people," Cally's unicorn answered. "Leaving behind only evil stuck in the body of what you would call a vampire, though that is not the correct name for them. The goodness inside people, when mixed together, creates a very powerful form of magic called Soul Power. With enough Soul Power, this wizard would have enough magic at his disposal to rule every world in existence."_

_"But how will he get this Soul Power?" Andros questioned.___

_"He has already sent one of his creatures into your world, Cally," Andros' unicorn responded. "It is spreading its touch through anyone it can."_

_Cally closed her eyes. "Oh, no," she whispered.___

_"Is there any way of getting the souls back?" Andros asked the two unicorns.___

_Cally's opened its mouth to reply.___

_"Well, well," an oily voice said from behind them. "If I'd known that you wanted to come to my hut, I would have guided you there in person."_

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Read and review, please!


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

****

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires or wizards 

**Replies to reviews:**

****

**Jorgitosbabe:** Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing 

**CamFan4Ever:** Darn... That idea didn't even occur to me. Never mind. No, this person is yet another original character. Thanks for reviewing 

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing 

**garnetred:** I think I explained this earlier in the fic, but the forest was what brought Cally there early so that she could stop the wizard. Thanks for reviewing the last chapter 

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Faye and Cam stared at the screen as they found themselves face-to-face with a young man with shoulder-length black hair, cruel brown eyes, and hawk-like features dressed in a long black robe. 

"I _really_ wish there was sound on this thing," Cam muttered. "We don't have any idea of who that guy might be." 

"Well, we know that he's not someone good," Faye commented. "Just look at the way the unicorns are acting." 

The unicorns had shied away, their heads lowered, pawing nervously at the ground with their hooves. From their reaction, the two Power Rangers guessed that this man scared the two mythical beasts. 

"Yeah, you're right," Cam agreed. _Watching this gives me the creeps,_ the green samurai ranger thought with a shudder. _I can't help thinking about all the people stuck in psychiatric hospitals. If what's happening with Cally is any indication, some of those people don't actually belong in mental hospitals. It appears that other worlds really _do_ exist._

But who'd use that argument with a psychiatrist? Anyone who tried would risk a high chance of being thought insane themselves. 

Cam removed his glasses, and rubbed at his eyes with a tired sigh. The computer screen was still on the man, but his lips were now moving. He was apparently saying something to Cally and whoever else was with her. 

Faye glanced at the green samurai ranger. "Are you all right?" she wanted to know. 

"I'm fine," Cam muttered, painfully aware of the fact that it was still possible that Faye could be the murderer. There hadn't been any evidence which pointed to the contrary. So Cam didn't want to admit the fact that he was feeling weak and tired to the orange light ranger. He felt that he'd probably be able to hold his own in a fight against her... But, then again, Blake _and_ Hunter had been murdered, and they were both much better fighters than he was. 

Faye looked down. "Whatever happened to the whole innocent until proven guilty?" she wondered. 

Cam shrugged slightly. "Just trying to be careful," he replied. "I don't want to drop _any_ theory just yet. Not until I have more evidence." 

Faye opened her mouth to say more, but their attention was drawn once more to the computer screen as the man turned and started walking towards the hut. From the way the distance behind him remained the same, Cam guessed that Cally was following him. 

"Idiot," Faye muttered under her breath, clearly talking about, or to, the violet light ranger. "She'd have to be crazy to trust him." 

"I thought she already _was_ crazy," Cam responded before he really thought about what he was going to say. "Or at least partially, anyway. After all, trying to kill yourself isn't exactly the action of a totally sane person." 

The orange light ranger shrugged. "A lot of people wish they were dead at some point or another in their lives," she said. "Statistically, not many actually act on it... But it doesn't necessarily mean that those that _do_ are insane. Just that they've gotten too depressed to want to carry on with their lives. The bad in their life outweighs the good. It's like having dug yourself into a huge pit and not having any way to get out. Depression is a disease rather than a sign of insanity." 

"That sounds like you repeated it from somewhere," Cam frowned. 

"I did," Faye replied. "After Cal got out of the hospital, she had counseling. She didn't want to go on her own, and David wasn't really up to going with her, so I ended up keeping her company for most of the time." 

Cam nodded slowly. "I see." He wasn't sure what else he could say. He'd never had a friend try to commit suicide, so he had no idea what Faye had gone through while her friend had been in hospital. It did actually serve to make him up her motive for murder in his mind, though. He said nothing out loud, though. Even with his father there, he wasn't entirely sure that Faye wouldn't try to kill him if it turned out that she _was_ the murderer. 

Cam glanced again at the screen, and frowned. Cally and the others were in the hut... And it was filled with bottles. The bottles seemed to be filled with different coloured mists, as strange as that sounded. 

Cam felt rather odd as he looked at them. He somehow got the nagging feeling that there was more to these bottles than just a collection of a strange man. 

"Odd," Faye murmured, her attention caught by the bottles. 

"Yeah..." Cam agreed. 

Every bottle was identical except for the different coloured mists inside each of them. They were all small and delicate-looking with clear glass and gold tops. The mists inside seemed to be moving, which wasn't totally strange, but Cam got the feeling that the mists were trying to escape, but couldn't because something much stronger than they were was holding them trapped. 

"Cally shouldn't have gone into that hut," Faye said in a firm tone. "I get the feeling that something bad is going to happen there." 

"You don't need to be a fortune teller to notice that," Cam responded absently. "That man is bad news." 

The orange light ranger sighed. "If _only_ there was sound," she muttered. "This is like watching a silent movie. Only much worse, because silent movies make more allowances for people not hearing exactly what's going on." 

"Hey, Cam, are you in here?" Shane's voice suddenly yelled from the main room of NinjaOps. 

The green samurai ranger sighed, and straightened from the chair he had been sitting on to watch the computer screen. "I'd better go and see what he wants," he told Faye. "Come and get me if you notice anything unusual, or if that man does anything even stranger than what he's done already." 

Faye nodded slowly, shifting into the seat Cam had just vacated, her eyes fixed on the screen. 

Cam walked into the main room of NinjaOps. "There something wrong, Shane?" he asked the red wind ranger. 

"You could say that," Shane replied a little more sharply than was usual for him. "Where were you?" 

"I was conducting an... experiment in the rec. room," Cam answered after a moment's hesitation. "It might help us to work out what's going on with all of these murders." 

"Well, I've got news for you," Shane responded. "We've now got a huge problem. The dead aren't _staying_ dead." 

"What do you mean?" Cam questioned. He felt that he knew already, though. The last thing he wanted was for those suspicions to be confirmed... But if they _were_, then there was no way that Faye could be the murderer. 

"Well, remember how the victims had always been drained of blood?" Shane asked. "Well, me, Tori, and Dustin ran into Vampire Blake. We managed to get away from him, but it was a pretty close call."__

_Vampires?_ Cam thought to himself. _Great. Then again, we have everything _else_ in Blue Bay Harbour. Why not vampires?_ Out loud, Cam said, "I thought that vampires couldn't exist outside in daylight." 

"Apparently, that's just a myth," Shane replied. "Blake was standing just fine in sunlight earlier. No bursting into flames or anything like that. Also, there's been another victim," he added. 

"Anyone we know?" Cam questioned. 

"It was Peter Kenring," Shane answered. 

Cam blinked. "Peter Kenring?" he repeated, an incomprehensible look on his face. 

"Peter Kenring is Lila Kenring's brother," Shane explained. "Lila is, _was_, Hunter's girlfriend." 

"So Lila has been killed too?" Cam wanted to know. 

Shane slowly shook his head. "It doesn't look that way," he said. "There's been no sign of Lila's body around. I'd guess that that means that she escaped while her brother was being killed." 

Cam turned pale. "How many murders does that make?" he whispered. 

"Around twenty three, unless the police have missed some," Shane answered. 

Cam grabbed onto the back of one of the chairs, feeling sick. "So we have twenty three possible vampires," he whispered. He raised his head to look at Sensei, who had just entered the room. "Dad, how can we stop this?" he asked. 

"Your best chance lies with what you are doing in the rec. room, son," Sensei answered. 

Cam nodded slowly, realising that his father was right. Their best chance of stopping this _did_ lie with Cally and what the violet light ranger might or might not know. The very fact that Cally had cheated on Dustin made things even more complicated. 

"Are you going to let us know what you've got going on in the rec. room?" Shane wanted to know. "What's the big secret, Cam?" 

The green samurai ranger hesitated for a long moment, but he knew that he couldn't tell Shane the truth. He had given his word, after all. 

"I can't tell you that," Cam told Shane. "Suffice to say that this is the only chance we have of stopping this spread of vampires. And this is a very slim chance as it is." 

Shane nodded slowly. "All right," he said. "But if you change your mind about being able to tell someone, I'll be at the skate park." With those words, the red wind ranger headed back out of NinjaOps. 

With a sigh, Cam entered the rec. room again. Faye was exactly where he had left her - staring at the computer screen, which hadn't changed much since he had been gone. 

"You owe me an apology," Faye commented without looking away from the screen. 

"Yeah, I know," the green samurai ranger responded, not very surprised that Faye knew what Shane had said to him. _She probably eavesdropped outside the door._ "I'm sorry that I thought you were the murderer," he added. "You may have had a motive, but it wasn't a very strong one. Especially not after Blake's and Hunter's murders." 

Faye flashed Cam a bright smile. "That's all right," she replied. Then, she frowned. "I would have thought that receiving an apology when I know that I was right would be much more... thrilling, I guess." 

Cam just shrugged, and came over to stand at Faye's shoulder. "Anything happened?" he wanted to know. 

Faye shook her head. "Nope. Just more bottles." 

Suddenly, the sound came on. 

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_Cally still wasn't sure that following this person, who was obviously the feared wizard, into the hut was such a good idea. But she couldn't see any other option that was available to her. She probably wouldn't be able to fight the wizard. She didn't exactly have much in the way of magical abilities. Aside from her Power Ranger abilities, of course._

_Andros wasn't sure that this was a good idea either. But the way the wizard had worded asking them to follow him inside hadn't sounded like an invitation at all. It sounded more like an order, or even a threat.___

_Andros assumed that the bottles stacked on the shelves were what held the souls of the people from Cally's world. He felt the violet light ranger stiffen slightly beside him, and gripped her upper arm lightly in an attempt to keep her calm. The last thing they needed was for Cally to attack the wizard. Andros would help her, sure, but he guessed that even with two Power Rangers, it would be a pretty uneven battle, with the advantage being on the wizard's side.___

_Cally took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. Then, she took several more. The first hadn't helped much.___

_"Why have you done this?" Cally asked, gesturing with the arm that Andros _wasn't_ holding to indicate the bottles.___

_"Power, my dear child," the wizard answered in a flat voice, almost as though he was merely discussing the weather. "When you get to _my_ age, you will learn that power is the most important thing in the world."___

_"But you don't look that much older than us," Andros commented with a frown.___

_"My magic is what keeps me looking this age," the wizard replied. "I could, of course, look any age I wish. I could change my form to whatever I wish."_

He's bluffing,_ Andros thought to himself. _His magic might keep him young, but I'm sure that it doesn't give him _that_ sort of power. At least, not yet. That's why he's trying to get all of this extra power from the goodness in people's souls.__

_Andros guessed that the same thing had probably occurred to Cally, and he tightened his grip on the violet light ranger's arm, silently warning her against doing something stupid.___

_The wizard's eyes flickered towards Andros' hand on Cally's arm, and he sneered. "You may as well release her," he told the red space ranger. "She will not try anything against me."___

_Andros frowned slightly. "What do you mean?" he asked, feeling suddenly worried.___

_"The power sings to her," the wizard murmured. "She would make a fine partner for me. Magic flows through her veins. A particular magic that has not been heard of for some time..."___

_"Leave her alone!" Andros yelled, seeing Cally's eyes suddenly go blank. He seized Cally's other arm, and turned her to face him, shaking her slightly. "Cally! Don't listen to him. Whatever he's offering you, it's not worth it."___

_"She cannot hear you."_

I won't believe that!_ Andros thought to himself. _There _has_ to be some way of getting through to her!__

_"Well, Cally, what do you want?" the wizard smiled. "If you join with me, you will not have to face Dustin's hatred of you any longer."___

_Cally glanced at the wizard._ _Andros could see from the expression on her face that the violet light ranger was tempted. Who wouldn't be? Cally had been driven to attempted suicide because of how bad she felt over what she had done to Dustin. As far as she knew, he hated her. And how could she go on living in her own world when the person she was in love with hated her?___

_Andros shook Cally hard. "Get a grip!" he shouted at her. "Dustin _doesn't_ hate you! Sure, he might be mad at you. But that's because you hurt him. If you _try_ apologising to him, he _will_ forgive you." At least, Andros _hoped_ he would forgive Cally.___

_Still, Andros' words seemed to get through to the violet light ranger. Cally blinked several times, and then shrank back against the red space ranger. "No," she whispered. "I don't want power. I don't want to be corrupted like you obviously are."___

_The wizard's face suffused with rage, and he clenched one fist hard and muttered a few words under his breath._

_Cally suddenly started choking, her hands clutching at her throat, her eyes wide with shock.___

_"Leave her alone!" Andros cried to the wizard._

_Ignoring him, the wizard clenched his fingers even tighter.___

_Cally's eyes bulged, and then, she collapsed.___

_Andros cursed, and fell to his knees beside the violet light ranger, not even noticing the wizard leave the room, apparently deciding that the red space ranger wasn't worth the effort of destroying._

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Lila was just getting changed into her new clothes when she suddenly heard a commotion. 

Peeking out into the street, the silver silk ranger's face blanched as she saw three Power Rangers standing opposite a group of people who looked very much like vampires. What helped that conclusion was the fact that Hunter and Peter were leading the group. 

"Oh, shoot," Lila whispered. "What can I do? I can't very well help my brother... But I can't help the Power Rangers, either. Peter and I are supposed to destroy them to get our parents back!"__

_Could _Lothor_ have something to do with this?_ Lila wondered. She discarded that idea as quickly as it had come. Lothor wouldn't be as subtle as to use vampire-like creatures. 

Lila pressed a few buttons on her morpher, remembering the frequency her brother had used to call the light Power Rangers to them. One more person to help was better than none. 

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Read and review, please!


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires and wizards

**Author's Note:** Ok, I'm probably going to be updating two lots of fan fiction now... -Glares at her muses-

**RedFox:** -Innocently- What? You said you liked David Eddings, but you couldn't think of a fan fiction to write for any of the books

**Apollo:** She's annoyed because the plot bunny for Wolfsong won't leave her alone

**DarkAngel:** That's tough!

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** Well, it's not a _huge_ power... Just a more unusual one. Actually, that could well push Cally into the Mary Sue category... Hm. Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

**CamFan4Ever:** I take it you liked it? Lol. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you updated FYL II finally! Don't leave so long before updating it again, k?

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

**Jorgitosbabe:** -Is deafened... yet again- Thanks for reviewing... Here's the next chapter

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Faye took a slight step back, staring at the computer screen, which was now black. "Is Cally dead?"

The orange light ranger had leaped out of the chair as soon as it had become apparent that Cally was somehow being strangled. As though it would do a lot of good, she had ducked round behind Cam.

"Well, she might only be unconscious," Cam replied. "The screen's black, so that probably means that her eyes are closed."

"That still doesn't mean that she's not dead," Faye responded. She looked away from the computer screen. "If she _is_ dead... Then that means that I'm basically the only light Power Ranger left."

_Because the other one's been corrupted in some way,_ Cam knew. He turned to look at Faye. "Do you want me to check if Cally's breathing or not?" he asked.

Faye thought for a moment, and then slowly shook her head. "Not just yet," she answered. "I don't particularly want to have Cally's death confirmed right away."

"I can understand that," Cam said, his gaze flickering towards Cally's body. _What else can we do?_ he wondered.

At just that moment, Faye's morpher went off. The orange light ranger jumped, then spoke into her morpher. "Yes?"

"Um, this is the silver silk ranger," a female voice replied hesitatingly. "Is that the orange light ranger?"

Cam saw Faye's eyes darken slightly, but she answered, "Yes. It is." There was a distinct tone of unfriendliness to her voice.

_I wonder why the silk rangers are contacting Faye?_ Cam thought to himself. _Could they be trying to trap her somehow? After all, they've pretty much gotten Cally out of the way. If they get Faye out of the way as well, then there will be no light Power Rangers left apart from Cally's brother David who has been turned evil somehow._

"I've just seen something that might interest you," the silver silk ranger was saying. "I scarcely believe it myself, so I see no reason for _you_ too... But I've seen someone who was supposed to be dead alive again, so I'm keeping an open mind about these things."

Cam and Faye exchanged worried glances. Both had a good idea of what the silver silk ranger was talking about. The vampires.

Cam nodded for Faye to ask for more details.

"What do you mean?" the orange light ranger asked.

"I'm talking about vampires," the silver silk ranger replied after a moment's hesitation. "I _know_ it sounds crazy... But I'm telling the truth."

"I know," Faye replied. Her hand clenched into a tight fist, and she closed her eyes briefly. "I already know about the vampires, I mean."

"They've come out into the open," the silver silk ranger told them. There was a pause, then, "Aren't vampires supposed to be destroyed by sunlight?"

"You can see some vampires at the moment?" Cam demanded.

"There's someone else with you?" the silver silk ranger questioned.

Faye shot Cam a questioning glance. The green samurai ranger nodded, and Faye spoke into her morpher. "I'm with the green samurai ranger."

"Oh," the silver silk ranger said slowly. "Yes, I _can_ see the vampires," she added. "I'm just inside a shop, so I'm pretty sure that they don't know I'm around. They seem particularly keen to get _me_, for some reason. They've already gotten my brother."

"Lila Kenring?" Cam demanded.

There was a pause, then, "How did you know?" Lila asked.

"I saw S... The red wind ranger a little while ago," Cam answered. "He mentioned that Peter Kenring had been murdered. When you said that your brother had been got by the vampires, I simply worked out your identity."

"Who's Lila Kenring?" Faye asked Cam. "Cally mentioned that she knew who the silver silk ranger was, but she didn't know her name."

"Lila is Hunter's girlfriend," Cam explained in a low voice so that the silver silk ranger couldn't hear him. "Well, _was_, I guess... Considering the fact that Hunter's now a vampire, I guess he and Lila are no longer dating."

Faye frowned slightly. "Lila doesn't know that Hunter is the crimson thunder ranger," she commented, also speaking softly, her hand over her morpher to further muffle what she was saying.

"I don't know if we should tell either of them," Cam responded. "Not just yet, anyway. We need to decide what to do about this, especially seeing as the silk rangers seem to want to destroy us Power Rangers."

Faye nodded slowly, and removed her hand from her morpher. "Lila, where are you?" she wanted to know.

"I'm in the clothes shop on the high street," the silver silk ranger answered. "You should know that the other Power Rangers are getting ready to fight the vampires. That little boy I saw before is there as well." There was a pause, and then the sound of something being knocked over. "Oops. I thought that he might have seen me, but he doesn't seem to be looking in my direction now. It must have been a false alarm."

"It figures that the others would go after the vampires _without_ letting me know what they were doing," Cam muttered.

"Should we go?" Faye asked the green samurai ranger.

Cam slowly nodded. "I suppose we'd better," he responded. He looked over Faye's shoulder at Sensei. "Is that all right with you, dad?"

"You must do what you feel is the right thing," the guinea pig answered. "I cannot make that decision for you."

Cam looked at the orange light ranger. "It looks like we're going to be going after the vampires," he told her. "Unless, of course, you'd rather not?"

Faye hesitated for a long moment, and then shrugged. "I guess I'd better," she replied. "I'd never be able to live with myself if I _didn't_ go."

Cam nodded slowly, and activated CyberCam. He then gestured towards the still-black screen. "Let us know if anything on that screen changes," he told his artificial self.

"With ya, bro," CyberCam responded. "You two go have fun now."

"I highly doubt that we will have fun chasing after vampires!" Faye muttered.

"Ready?" Cam asked the orange light ranger, ignoring her complaint.

Faye nodded slowly. "As ready as I'll ever be," she replied.

"Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Light Storm, Ranger Form!"

The two Power Rangers morphed, then streaked off.

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_Andros stood over Cally's body, staring down at the limp form of the violet light ranger. It didn't seem fair that she should die like this, so far away from her own home and people who cared about her._

There's_ got_ to be a way to bring her back! _Andros thought. _There was a way last time, when she almost drowned!

_Andros dropped to his knees beside Cally's body again, and pressed his fingers lightly against her neck, more for something to do while he thought than with any hope of finding a pulse._

Would CPR work?_ Andros wondered. _Maybe there's something here in this hut that can help her...

_Something fluttered slightly under Andros' fingertips._

_The red space ranger jerked slightly, dragged away from his thoughts. He stared down at Cally, then sighed. _Great. Now I'm imagining that she's still alive.

_The flutter came again._

_Andros stared in shock. Was it possible? Could the violet light ranger still be alive, even after being strangled?_

_Apparently, it _was_ possible. Cally started coughing, and tried to sit up._

_Andros immediately pushed her back down again. "You shouldn't try to move," he told her. "You need to regain your strength."_

_Cally shook her head vigorously. "No, I can't," she responded. "Didn't you hear what the wizard said? He wants ultimate power. If we don't stop him, then he will get what he wants... And everything and everyone we love will be destroyed."_

_Andros frowned slightly. "What can we do, though?" he asked. "We've already tried once, and we failed. I'm not giving up... But do you have any idea of how we can stop the wizard?"_

_Cally slowly shook her head. "No, but don't you remember what the unicorns said to us?" she questioned. "They said that we were _both_ supposed to be here. That means that we _can_ stop the wizard. Somehow."_

_"Our unicorns didn't even follow us into this hut," Andros reminded the violet light ranger. "They were too scared to."_

_"It's not _that_ bad," Cally objected. "At least if we know that they're outside, then we know that they're not being hurt by the wizard or anything like that."_

_"Yeah, you're right," Andros sighed. "I just wish that they had told us more about what they expected us to do," he added._

_"Yeah, that kind of sucks," Cally agreed. "Help me up?"_

_Andros helped her to her feet. "He went through that door," the red space ranger told the violet light ranger, nodding towards the door in question. "I'm assuming that it's a different room, as it clearly doesn't lead to the outside." The door leading outside was behind the two Power Rangers._

_Cally nodded slowly. "I suppose we'd better go through," she commented, staring at the door like it was a live snake and making no move to actually enter._

_Andros thought for a moment, and then grinned. "No, we don't," he told Cally. "The wizard doesn't know that you're still alive, remember?"_

_Cally blinked. "What do you have in mind?" she wanted to know._

_Andros whispered in her ear._

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Cam and Faye arrived on the scene to find the three wind rangers sizing up, and being sized up by, the vampires. Neither side had made a move.

Cam sidled over to Shane. "What's the plan?" he asked the red wind ranger in a low voice.

"Wait for them to make the first move," Shane answered, not taking his eyes off the vampires in front of him.

"_That's_ your plan?" Cam demanded, throwing his arms up into the air.

Shane turned his head, and Cam could imagine the glare that was under his helmet. "You got a better idea?" the red wind ranger demanded.

"Hey, guys, don't fight," Dustin told the two.

"Yeah," Tori agreed. "We have enough to deal with trying to fight Hunter and Blake, without fighting each other as well. It may help if we try to reason with them."

"How can you reason with a vampire?" Dustin wondered.

Tori smacked him upside the head. "I mean try to appeal to who they _really_ are!" she hissed.

Shane flicked a glance towards the orange light ranger, who was standing silently to one side, then looked at Cam. "What's she doing here?" he wanted to know.

The green samurai ranger shrugged slightly. "She came along to help us out," he answered. "I figured that we might need all of the help we can get."

"You're right," Shane agreed.

"I think he's right, too," a soft voice said from behind them.

The Power Rangers whirled, and found themselves face-to-face with the silver silk ranger. She was morphed, of course.

"What do _you_ want?" Shane demanded.

The silver silk ranger shrugged slightly. "I figured that the vampires are rather dangerous to _all_ of us," she answered. "For now, it would be advantageous to call a temporary truce. Of course, once this threat has been removed, things will go back to how they were."

"Fine," Shane muttered.

Tori took a slight step forward, her eyes fastened on Blake. "Blake, it's me," she told the navy thunder ranger vampire.

Blake hissed, revealing sharp fangs. His eyes showed no glimmer of recognition. The little boy, who was standing next to him, smiled, also revealing incredibly sharp teeth.

"Blake, please," Tori whispered. She wanted Blake to recognise her. She wished for it with all of her being.

At a sudden, unspoken signal, the vampires attacked the Power Rangers.

It was an all-out brawl. The Power Rangers were outnumbered, and the vampires had super strength on their side. Plus, the Power Rangers were reluctant to seriously harm the vampires, who wore the faces of their friends.

Suddenly, Hunter, who had been in the middle of attacking Lila along with Peter, froze, a strange look on his face.

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_Andros knocked on the door that the wizard had entered. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Wizard?" he called, trying to sound a little nervous._

_"Go away!" the wizard replied, his tone annoyed. "I've spared you for the moment, but if you stay here, then your life will be forfeit!"_

_"But I want to learn how to do magic," Andros protested._

_There was a moment's pause, then, "What about your friend?"_

_"She is of no consequence," Andros replied. "She is dead. I wish to know what magic you used. I wish to become your apprentice."_

_Both Cally and Andros had morphed. They figured that they would have to fight the wizard, and wanted to be ready to do so._

_Finally, the door opened, and the wizard stepped out. He didn't see Andros at first, and the red space ranger used that to his advantage._

_Andros leaped at the wizard, knocking him to the side while Cally slammed the door the wizard had just come through shut._

_"How dare you!" the wizard snarled. He knocked Andros away from him, though the red space ranger wasn't seriously hurt, and then whirled on Cally. "You! How could you survive?!" he yelled._

_"Oh, it was easy," Cally replied. Andros knew that she was probably smiling under her Power Ranger helmet._

_The wizard knocked the violet light ranger to one side with his staff, and then swung at Andros._

_The red space ranger hit one of the bottles, and felt it shatter. He also felt the mist, a crimson one, escape._

_The wizard froze, a look of shock on his face. "No!" he breathed._

_"Quick!" Andros yelled at Cally. "Smash the bottles!"_

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Read and review, please!


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concepts of vampires and wizards

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** Well, that's the theory...

**Jorgitosbabe:** I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it . Thanks for reviewing

**CamFan4Ever:** Well... If you're glad that Cally lives, maybe she's not so Mary-Sue-ish after all... Thanks for reviewing!

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_Cally shot Andros a startled look, but grabbed one of the other bottles, and smashed it against the wall. A shard of glass ripped her arm open, but the violet light ranger didn't have time to register the pain._

_The wizard's eyes rolled back in his head until only the whites were showing. He pointed a hand at Cally, the fingers hooked like claws, and the violet light ranger was thrown violently back._

_Andros knocked the wizard to one side, and felt pain flash through his side as the wizard sent a stream of energy at him._

_Cally tried to get to her feet, but being thrown into the wall must have caused more damage than she thought. She felt the blood run down from her sliced arm, but couldn't spare enough time to try and bandage it up._

_Andros straightened, facing the wizard, breathing heavily. "We're not going to let you take over the worlds!" he exclaimed._

_"You are a fool!" the wizard snapped. "Even with the two of you working together, you have no chance of beating _me

_The red space ranger was careful not to look in Cally's direction. While he distracted the wizard, the violet light ranger was lashing out at all of the bottles nearby, attempting to smash them. The wizard was apparently angry enough not to notice the gradual weakening of his powers as the spirits of the people he had taken the souls from were taken from him. Andros hoped that he wouldn't realise, but knew that that was a poor hope._

_The wizard went very still, then whirled on the violet light ranger who was in the process of lifting a bottle with a navy-coloured mist inside to smash it._

_"You fool!" the wizard screamed at Cally. "I still have the powers I was born with!" He muttered a few words, then clasped his hands together and pointed his two index fingers at the violet light ranger._

_"LOOK OUT!" Andros yelled, flinging himself at the wizard. His action caused the wizard to jerk off-balance, and the killing wave of energy shot out at the wall, narrowly missing Cally's head._

_Cally smashed the bottle on the ground while Andros grappled with the wizard. Tiny shards of glass got stuck in her body, causing innumerable cuts as the glass was sharp enough to pierce her Power Ranger suit._

_The wizard slipped his hands around Andros' neck and started trying to strangle the red space ranger. However, Andros bucked his knees, and flung the wizard off him._

_The wizard sent a wave of fire at Andros. The red space ranger ducked to the side, and the fire caught one of the shelves and quickly spread, causing the few remaining bottles to explode._

_Cally was staring transfixed at the flames. She couldn't move. She was sure that if she did, she would be burned. But it was getting so hot..._

_The wizard shot Andros and Cally a murderous look, then clapped his hands once and just vanished._

_Andros raced towards Cally, and grabbed the arm that had been sliced by the glass. Ignoring the wet feeling on his fingers, he dragged her out of the hut and away._

_It was just in time, because the hut exploded behind them._

_Andros stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the ruin of the hut. "Well, something tells me that we haven't seen the last of that wizard," the red space ranger commented._

_Cally gave a soft groan as her arm suddenly started hurting now that adrenaline wasn't rushing through her body._

_Andros turned to look at Cally, demorphing as he did so, and looked at the violet light ranger with concern. "Are you all right?" he asked._

_Cally also demorphed. "My arm..." she answered._

_"Let me see." Andros reached for the girl's arm, and let out his breath in a hiss as he saw the long slash. He pressed on the wound in order to slow the bleeding, and felt Cally wince slightly. "How'd this happen?"_

_"It was when I smashed one of the first bottles," Cally explained. "I think that one of the shards of glass caught my arm and ripped it open. I didn't notice it right away because of fighting the wizard."_

_Andros nodded slowly. "That's not surprising," he said. "You'd better press on the wound until it stops bleeding. We don't have any clean bandages with us, and there could be quite a high risk of infection if we used some of our clothes."_

_Cally nodded, moving her hand to where Andros' had been. "Some other shards of glass cut me as well," she told him. "But they aren't very serious."_

_"Let me see." It wasn't a question._

_Still keeping her hand over the cut, Cally stretched out her arms, showing the tiny cuts on her skin._

_The unicorns had come over, but neither Andros or Cally had registered their presence until Andros asked them, "Is there a stream nearby? Cal's wounds need to be cleaned."_

_"Yes, there _is_ one," Andros' unicorn responded. "If you like, we can take you to it."_

_"We'd like," Andros replied firmly._

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Hunter stepped back and away from the silver silk ranger, his hands going to his forehead. "What... Where am I?" the crimson thunder ranger asked with obvious confusion.

Cam blinked beneath his mask, and shot Faye, who was trying to keep a couple of the other vampires, including Kelly, from biting her neck, a look.

_It looks like Hunter's no longer a vampire,_ Cam thought to himself. He didn't have time to do much else, though, because he was trying to help Tori defend herself against vampire Blake.

Hunter staggered away from the fight, clearly out of it. As well he might be. He'd been a vampire for some time, and had apparently only just come to his senses.

Lila blocked a punch from Peter. She had pretty much decided that she wasn't going to hold back with her brother. It tore her inside to hurt him, but she'd much rather fight him than be turned into a vampire herself.

Lila didn't really register the fact that Hunter had stopped fighting her. Peter was a pretty good fighter, and he was keeping her on her toes.

One of Peter's punches connected with Lila's shoulder. The silver silk ranger was knocked back a couple of paces, and Peter's lips parted to reveal incredibly sharp fangs. He lunged for Lila, his hands moving to her shoulders.

Lila pulled back, causing her brother to lose his balance. She helped him fall by using her hip to let him go over it. As soon as he landed on the ground, she grabbed his arm and pinned it to his back.

Lila had been looking very closely at Peter, so she knew precisely what happened next. A brown mist drifted into her brother's body, and then Peter went limp beneath her.

"Peter?" Lila asked softly.

The brown silk ranger drew in a deep breath. "I'm fine," he muttered. He stood up, and then grabbed his sister's wrist. "Come on!"

Lila glanced quickly at the other Power Rangers, then allowed herself to be dragged off.

Cam's morpher suddenly went off, and the green samurai ranger twisted to one side to avoid a punch from the navy thunder ranger as he muttered, "Yeah?"

"You told me to let you know if the screen changed at all," the voice of CyberCam said clearly. "It's changed. There's a fight going on, and there are some bottles being smashed."

_Bottles?_ Cam thought fuzzily. Then, _Bottles! Could the bottles Faye and I saw have been holding the people's souls?_

Blake started to lash out at Cam, and then he paused, an expression of intense confusion coming over his face as his fangs shortened and became normal teeth again.

"Tori?" the navy thunder ranger murmured.

"Blake, are you yourself?" Tori asked worriedly.

The navy thunder ranger blinked in some confusion, then hugged the blue wind ranger tightly to him.

All around them, people seemed to be coming round. They were looking around in apparent confusion, clearly not remembering what had just happened.

"Cam? Something's happened to the screen. It's got all of these grey lines on it, and there's a funny noise coming from it. I think that the helmet that girl is wearing has overloaded or something."

As soon as he heard those words, Cam looked around for Faye.

The orange light ranger was already gone.

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_Cally winced as Andros pulled out the tiny pieces of glass embedded in her skin, and sank her teeth into her bottom lip to stop herself from crying out._

_Andros tore a strip of material off his shirt, and soaked it in the lake he and Cally were sitting beside. Having cleaned all of the smaller cuts and pulled the glass out of them, he started cleaning the larger cut._

_The violet light ranger gave a slight whimper, and tried to pull her arm out of the red space ranger's grasp._

_"Stop it," Andros warned without looking up. "It _has_ to be cleaned, Cally. Do you want the wound to become infected?"_

_Cally quieted down at those words, and just sat there, wincing every now and then._

_Andros tied another strip of material around the long slash, and then straightened. "There. That's the best I can do, unfortunately."_

_"Thanks," Cally mumbled._

_"Don't mention it," Andros responded. He looked at the two unicorns, who had been standing quietly to one side throughout the entire process of cleaning Cally up. "Do you think it would be possible to rest here for a while?" he asked with a slight trace of sarcasm in his voice. "Or is that not allowed?"_

_Both unicorns looked down. "It _is_ allowed," Cally's unicorn answered._

_"We may also tell you that there is only one task left for you to do," Andros' unicorn added. "Once that is completed, you will be able to leave."_

Finally_," Andros muttered. "I was starting to get sick of this place."_

_"Me too," Cally agreed. "I'd probably do _anything_ to get out of here."_

_Andros nodded._

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Read and review, please!


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concept of vampires or wizards

**Replies to reviews:**

**Jorgitosbabe:** Thanks for reviewing . And I do too, actually

**DarkAngel:** -Grumbles- She never knows from one minute to the next what she's going to do

**Apollo:** Of _course_ she doesn't. If she did, she'd end up giving it away. How many people expected her to use vampires? Or people's souls being trapped in bottles? -Looks around at reviewers with a questioning look on his face-

**j-j-monster:** o.o Was that review good or bad? It seems to have some part of it missing... Well, anyways, thanks for reviewing!

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it . Thanks for reviewing

**garnetred:** Hehe... Slightly innocent look As for the last task... Well, I was trying to work out how to write it today. It's probably a little different to what you expected, but I hope you like it anyway. Thanks for reviewing!

**CamFan4Ever:** Well, they weren't technically dead... They just had their souls removed from their bodies. Thanks for reviewing!

**RedFox:** Um... Doesn't having your soul removed from your body make one technically dead?

**DarkAngel:** -Grumbles- Don't argue. Just... Don't argue

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Faye sat there, staring at Cally's limp body. She bit her lip worriedly, wondering just what her friend was going through. A few moments ago, the violet light ranger had been thrashing around like she did when she was having a nightmare. Now, she was just lying still.

Faye would have thought that Cally was dead, only the slow rise and fall of her chest made it clear that Cally was still alive.

_I wish I knew what was happening to her,_ Faye thought to herself. _It feels so... _odd_ to be the only light Power Ranger around. For as long as I can remember, Cally and David have always been around._

As children, the three had always played together and spent most of their time round each other's houses. They'd all joined the Light Ninja Academy at the same time, and it had made sense for David and Faye to start dating.

_It wasn't so difficult for us to keep what was going on secret from other people,_ Faye thought to herself. _Then again, we _did_ start at the academy _after_ Dustin and Cally broke up... Since then, we've always been a close-knit little group._

Faye sighed softly to herself. Everything had become so much more confusing since they had started at the Light Ninja Academy. And what about the other Power Rangers? Faye had absolutely _no_ idea whether she should reveal her identity to them or not. After all, Blake and Cam knew her identity, and Hunter possibly did as well.

Faye was _definitely_ no good at leadership. She wasn't good at making life or death decisions. She preferred to leave that to other people.

Faye was caught up in her thoughts, and didn't realise that someone was at the door until the doorbell rang again.

The orange light ranger's head jerked up, and she looked around wildly. _Now who would be calling _here she wondered. _Hardly anyone knows where we live!_

After a few moments, Faye got up and left the room, closing the door softly behind her. She made her way downstairs, and opened the front door.

David was standing there.

Faye's first thought was to slam the door in David's face. Her second was to hug him tightly and let him soothe all of her worries away. But she did neither. Instead, she folded her arms over her chest and asked flatly, "What are you doing here?"

"You don't look very happy to see me," David smiled.

_That's because I'm _not_, to tell the truth,_ Faye thought to herself. But she didn't say that out loud. Instead, she asked, "Would you like to come in?"

"Not if it's going to mean running into my sister," David responded flatly. He stared hard at Faye, his expression unreadable, then said, "To tell the truth, I wanted to see if you would change your mind about coming with me."

_Oh, _there's_ a surprise._ "You _must_ be joking," Faye told the white light ranger. "I told you before. I _won't_ abandon Cal. She's my best friend. I'm not in the habit of abandoning the people I care about." The orange light ranger paused, then added in a low voice, "Unlike _you_, it seems."

David merely blinked. If Faye's comment had hurt him at all, he gave no sign of it. He said, quite calmly, "I have no wish to fight you, Faye."

Faye stared at him. Then, seeing that he was serious, she gave a bitter laugh. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"What do you mean?" David questioned. But his expression already said that he knew _exactly_ what Faye meant.

Faye slowly shook her head. "If you _really_ didn't want to fight me, then you wouldn't be doing _this_," she answered. "You don't care either way, David. Until you do, you've lost sight of what's important in life." With those words, the orange light ranger slammed the door in David's face before she lost her nerve.

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"So, wait, you mean that we were all vampires?" Hunter's face registered confusion.

They were all in NinjaOps. Well, all being Cam, Tori, Dustin, Shane, Hunter, Blake, and, of course, Sensei. Cam was, at that precise moment, trying to work out exactly what had caused his computer to blow, and was idly wondering whether or not the violet light ranger had been damaged by it in some way.

Tori had latched onto Blake, and was refusing to let him go. Not that the navy thunder ranger seemed to mind. His expression showed that he was quite clearly wondering if any of the others had had too much to drink or something like that. But there was also a thoughtful look in his eyes.

The green samurai ranger had to wonder if Blake had any vague recollections of what had happened to him. Cam would have asked, but he was slightly worried that it might have something to do with Cally, and he wasn't really ready to tell Dustin that his ex-girlfriend was a Power Ranger.

The little boy who had been the first vampire was sleeping in the rec. room. So far, none of the Power Rangers had been able to find out anything about him, considering the fact that he had collapsed as soon as his spirit had apparently been returned to his body.

"Yeah, vampires," Shane replied.

Dustin grinned. "I'll bet the police are _still_ scratching their heads, trying to figure out why all of the bodies they had in the morgue suddenly vanished," he commented. "They're probably even _more_ confused about why people who were apparently dead happen to now be up and walking around."

"Everyone seems to have forgotten what happened," Cam said. "That's actually good. The police will probably think that the people were just unconscious or something like that."

Hunter slowly shook his head. "I don't know," he responded. "This all seems too... weird to me. Like something out of a movie." The crimson thunder ranger looked at Blake. "What do _you_ think, bro?"

The navy thunder ranger shrugged a little. "It's possible, I suppose," he replied. "Of course, that would mean that someone had to... reverse the process, so to speak." Blake looked pointedly at Cam.

The green samurai ranger blinked. What was Blake trying to say to him? That someone had managed to save them? But who?

Whatever it was, it was clearly something that Blake felt like he couldn't say out loud. As to whether he'd tell his brother or not, Cam had no idea.

"Well, _I'm_ just glad that you're all right," Tori told Blake, hugging him. "I don't particularly want my boyfriend to end up dead. _Or_ as a vampire, either."

Blake smiled at her, and stroked her hair. "I'll do my best not to end up dead or as a vampire," he said.

"Good."

Cam looked round at the other Power Rangers, thinking. What would they say if they knew the identity of the five Power Rangers? Would they let the two light Power Rangers join if they wanted to? And what would be Dustin's reaction to having Cally around? Probably not a very good one. Even if the violet light ranger _was_ as sorry as Faye said, it would take a lot for even Dustin to forgive a betrayal that big.

_And why do I feel so tired?_ Cam wondered. _I've actually been getting _loads_ of sleep at the moment. But, if anything, I feel even _more_ exhausted._

"Well, I'd probably better get going," Shane said finally. "I have to meet up with my skateboarding pals." And the red wind ranger left NinjaOps.

The others all mumbled excuses and left as well, until only Blake and Tori remained behind.

"You go on ahead," Blake told Tori. "I'll catch you up in a minute."

The blue wind ranger hesitated. Then, apparently deciding that Blake wasn't going to come to any harm in NinjaOps, she nodded, and left.

As soon as she had gone, Blake turned to Cam. "It was Cally," he told the green samurai ranger.

Cam blinked. "What was Cally?" he wanted to know.

"The person who freed us," Blake explained. "I remember being stuck inside something tiny, and then being lifted up. I got a good look at whoever was holding what I was stuck inside. It was _definitely_ Cally."

"Are you sure?" Cam questioned. _What a thing to ask! Of _course_ he's sure! He wouldn't be saying anything if he wasn't sure!_

Blake nodded slowly. "I'm sure," he responded. "I want to find out exactly what the deal is with Dustin and Cally. _Something_ is going on that isn't right."

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Hunter found Lila sitting dejectedly on the wall outside Storm Chargers. The shop wasn't open yet. Apparently, Kelly was still recuperating from what had happened to her.

Lila hadn't seen Hunter yet, so the crimson thunder ranger sneaked up behind her, and covered her eyes with his hands. "Guess who," he murmured.

"Hey Hunter," Lila replied flatly.

Hunter came round to stand in front of Lila. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Lila looked down. "Nothing," she mumbled.

"Don't give me that." Hunter lifted her chin so that Lila was forced to look at him. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"I... _can't_," Lila whispered. "I'm sorry. I can't."

"Is it about what's happened over the past couple of days?" Hunter frowned.

Lila shook her head, her bottom lip trembling. She looked like she was going to cry at any moment, but she took several deep breaths to try and stop herself.

"Lila?" Hunter frowned.

"Can I... tell you something?" Lila asked in a low voice.

Hunter was puzzled. "Um, sure," he replied. "What's up?"

"I have a problem," Lila told him.

"What is it?" Hunter wanted to know. Lila looked alarming. She actually looked near to hysteria.

Lila leaned forward and whispered in the crimson thunder ranger's ear.

Hunter turned pale. "_What_?!"

"I'm the silver silk ranger," Lila repeated.

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_Gradually, the path in front of Cally and Andros started to get thinner and thinner. The unicorns called them to a halt when they could see mist instead of trees either side of the path in front of them._

_Cally looked pale, and not just because the eerie silence disturbed her. The cuts she had got from the glass were throbbing painfully, and she had had to stop a number of times to rest._

_Andros looked worriedly at the violet light ranger. He was pretty sure that _neither_ of them would be able to keep this up for much longer. For one thing, both were pretty tired from the fight with the wizard. For another, they were both quite dirty, and their clothes smelled of soot._

_"What do we have to do?" Andros asked the unicorns tiredly._

_"You must walk down this path," Cally's unicorn explained. "You may not stop or turn round, no matter_ what_ you hear."_

_Cally frowned a little. "That doesn't sound so hard," she mumbled._

_"It's harder than you might think," Andros' unicorn told them. "You may only go down the path one at a time. Who is going to go first?"_

_"I'll go first," Andros said immediately. It would get it out of the way. Besides, if _he_ went first, then it might help Cally to be less afraid._

_"Stay back," the unicorns warned the violet light ranger when she started forward._

_Cally paused, then sighed._

_Andros took a deep breath, and stepped onto the path._

_It was all eerily silent. Andros wanted to look behind him to see if he could still see Cally and the two unicorns, but he had been told not to._

_Andros hadn't gotten very far along the path when the whispers started._

_"How could you? Your own sister!"_

_Andros flinched at the remembered words. He'd failed Karone on the ship... He'd almost ended up killing her. It was only by pure luck that Karone had been all right._

_"You shouldn't have destroyed Zordon. You knew that there had to be another way."_

_The red space ranger doggedly continued as tears started to well and trickle down his cheeks. He didn't bother to wipe them away. Crying was supposed to help heal the soul._

_"You failed me, Andros. You couldn't bring me back. You had to have Zordon use his energy." Karone's voice was scornful, mocking._

_"Andros, you left me." Ashley's voice now._

_"You left us to face the monsters on our own." That was Zhane's voice, softly accusing._

_"You were jealous." Carlos' voice._

_"You couldn't even keep from destroying Zordon!"_

_"You didn't want to be with me."_

_"You almost killed me."_

_The red space ranger broke into a run, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'M SORRY!" he yelled to the voices. "I'm sorry that I failed so many of you! But I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. So does everyone else!"_

_Suddenly, the path ended._

_Andros stumbled forward a few steps, sobbing a little. He collapsed on the ground, feeling emotionally drained, lowered his head, and wept._

_Andros was on his feet when Cally stumbled off the path. He hugged the violet light ranger and just stood there, drawing comfort from her and giving it in return._

_Cally raised her head. "It... was horrible," she whispered. "There was Dustin... And David... And Faye... I failed so many people. My parents..."_

_"It wasn't your fault," Andros told her softly. "You made mistakes. But I told you before. You'd be surprised at how much people who love you are willing to forgive." And the red space ranger finally began to believe his own words._

_Cally drew back from Andros as the two felt their spirits begin to fade. Cally looked up at the red space ranger. "Look me up if you're ever in Blue Bay Harbour."_

_"You don't even have to ask," Andros smiled._

_The two felt themselves being dragged back to their respective bodies._

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Read and review, please!


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm or Power Rangers in Space, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also don't own the original concepts of vampires and wizards

**Replies to reviews:**

**Jorgitosbabe:** I think you were the only person to comment on that . I actually had no idea that Lila was going to tell Hunter that until I started writing the scene. An example of one of my characters taking over for themselves . Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

**garnetred:** The wizard's been quite severely weakened, so he'll be licking his wounds for a while yet. And I've dropped a lot of hints about Cally's power... Hehe . Thankies for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**jj-monster:** Yeah, computers can be a pain, can't they? The one I'm using at the moment continually crashes on me, so I make a point of saving my work most of the time. And Faye _will_ be thrilled that Cally's back . She has absolutely no idea what do on her own. Thanks for reviewing!

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**CamFan4Ever:** Yup, they're _finally_ going back. I've decided to stop torturing them (well, Andros, anyway). Thanks for reviewing!

**Author's Note:** 96 reviews?! _That's_ something I never would have expected! A couple of weeks ago, I was idly wondering if I would actually get a 100... Looks like I could well reach that target! Thank you so much everyone whose reviewed!

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Cally's eyes fluttered open, and she stared up at the ceiling.

"Cally?" Faye asked softly.

Cally blinked, then turned her head to the side to look at her friend. "Where am I?" she questioned.

"You're in our house," the orange light ranger explained. "You're safe now." Faye felt her eyes fill, and she wiped her hand across them. But she was relieved that Cally was all right. She felt _so_ tired, though. Probably had something to do with the fact that she hadn't been sleeping very well as she had been so worried about her friend.

Cally frowned, and tried to sit up, but Faye pushed her back down again. "You need to rest," the orange light ranger told her friend. She knew that that hadn't been what Cally had been doing. The violet light ranger looked even more tired and worn out than Faye felt.

Cally let herself be pushed back down, which only further proved how tired she really felt. Usually, the violet light ranger resisted against being forced to take a break or rest. She was perfectly willing to push her body to its very limits, and then attempt to push it even further until she was on the verge of collapsing. Faye supposed that it was quite an admirable quality, but not a very sensible one.

"_I'll_ get some rest if you will as well," Cally responded, closing her eyes. "You look really awful, Faye. How much sleep have you been getting?"

"Don't worry about _me_, Cal," Faye answered. "I know where you've... been. I know that you've probably gone through a lot."

Cally's eyes snapped open again, and she suddenly looked very wide awake, her eyes glittering in an alert way. A way that Faye had never seen before. "_How_ do you know where I've been?" she demanded.

Faye looked down, suddenly not wanting to meet her friend's gaze, and silently berated herself for saying anything. She should have let Cally know that their secret was not quite the secret it had originally been later, when the violet light ranger had had a chance to rest and get her energy back.

"Faye." Cally's voice held a warning tone in it.

"I was worried about you," Faye told Cally. "I took you to the Power Rangers' headquarters when you collapsed and I couldn't feel you breathing."

"Couldn't feel me breathing...?" Cally frowned, and then her eyes suddenly got very wide. "Oh! That must have been when I was nearly drowned!"

"You were _what_?!" Faye exclaimed. "Who tried to drown you?!"

"I'm not entirely sure," Cally admitted. "I wasn't paying a lot of attention to what was going on around me. I was too busy trying to fill up the buckets to put out the fire."

Faye blinked. "Buckets... Fire?" she questioned, shaking her head slightly. It sounded way too weird to her. Besides, Cally was terrified of fire. She couldn't even be in the same room as a lit match.

"Yeah, we had to put out this fire," Cally explained. "It was one of the challenges, though the unicorns couldn't tell us that, of course."

_Unicorns?_ Faye thought fuzzily. _Oh, yes! Didn't Cam mention that unicorns were the guardians in the Forest of Feelings?_ Then, the orange light ranger frowned. "_We_?" she questioned with obvious confusion. She and Cam had seen another person with Cally on the computer screen... But neither of them knew the identity of the mysterious man.

"Andros the red space ranger," Cally explained in a drowsy voice, clearly dropping off into sleep again. She yawned, and forced her eyes open. "He helped me while I was trying to free an animal from a trap, and then we sort of decided that it would be advantageous to the both of us to work together."

Faye studied her friend's face closely, idly wondering if Cally thought of Andros as more than a friend. It wouldn't help her relationship with Dustin any if she did. But the violet light ranger's sleepy gaze didn't give any hint of her true feelings.

"You'll have to tell me everything that happened to you there," Faye said.

"I will," Cally responded. Her eyes began to close again, and then they flew open, and she stared at her stomach in surprise, then touched it lightly. "The crystal... It's gone," she commented softly.

The orange light ranger nodded slowly. "It appeared to have dissolved when the machine went wrong," she replied. Then, she clapped a hand over her mouth. _Oops._

Cally's gaze shifted to her friend. "What machine? What are you talking about?"

"Um..." Faye dropped her gaze, unable to look Cally in the eye, and fiddled with the material of her top. "See, there were vampires..."

"Vampires." Cally's expression was unreadable, but she clearly wasn't even _close_ to believing Faye. "I hate to tell you this, Faye, but vampires only exist in stories."

"No, they _should_ only exist in stories," Faye corrected. "Cam, that's the green samurai ranger, and I were trying to work out why you'd been taken into the Forest of Feelings at that particular time, considering how long you've been feeling guilty about cheating on Dustin. An ideal time for you to go would have been while you were in hospital recovering from having tried to kill yourself." The orange light ranger frowned slightly. "Round about that time, people started getting murdered... Or, at least, that's what everyone _thought_ was happening."

"But, instead, they were getting turned into vampires," Cally said dryly. She clearly still did not believe Faye, or, at the very least, thought that her friend must have been mistaken somehow.

Faye met Cally's gaze unflinchingly. "Yeah, that's right," she responded. "We worked out that you must have been taken into the Forest of Feelings then for a specific reason, and we wondered if it was somehow connected to what was happening with the vampires. So Cam decided to hook you up to this machine which would let us see what _you_ were seeing."

Cally sighed. "Faye, you must be mistaken..." she began.

"No, I'm _not_," Faye interrupted. "Let me _finish_, Cal." When the violet light ranger finally sighed and nodded, the orange light ranger continued, "We watched you and... Andros enter that hut, and that was when we could finally _hear _what was going on as well as see it. Cam and I watched up until the screen went black because you were unconscious."

Cally nodded slowly. "I remember that," she said softly. "The wizard tried to strangle me. It was only by pure chance that I was still alive. I had enough presence of mind to let my body go entirely limp."

Faye gave a small smile. "You haven't had a very good time of it, have you, Cally?" she asked. "First of all you nearly get strangled by the silver silk rangers, then you become ill and end up in the Forest of Feelings, then you nearly get drowned, then you nearly get strangled again." Faye shook her head. "You must be thinking that someone's out to get you." Faye hesitated, then added, "In any case, the vampires started returning to themselves just after you regained consciousness, as far as I can work out."

Faye watched as the colour drained from Cally's face.

"The bottles," Cally whispered unsteadily. "They must have been inside the bottles." _And_ that_ was why smashing the bottles hurt the wizard. It wasn't the bottles at all. It was what was _inside_ the bottles!_

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Cam sank back in his chair as he finally got the computer working again, and wiped a hand across his face. Whew. That was a relief. He didn't know _what_ he would have done if he hadn't been able to fix the computer. Oh, wait. He knew partly what he would do. He would try his best to get a new one.

"Son, you are tired," Cam's father said softly from behind him. "You need your rest. Leave the computer and come to bed."

"In a moment, Father," the green samurai ranger responded. "I just need to sort out a few things." He _couldn't_ go to sleep, anyway. That little boy who was no longer a vampire was still asleep on the bed in the rec. room, and there was no other bed to sleep in. Cam could go to sleep in the chair in front of the computer. He'd done it plenty of times before.

Sensei sighed. "Son, you should really not work so hard," he scolded gently. "It will not be the end of the world if you stop a little earlier than usual. The computer will still be here in the morning."

_But _I_ might not be._ Cam wouldn't tell this to _anyone_, but his sleep was being disturbed by troubling images every night. And there was the face of a woman who was at once both familiar and strange to him. Try as he might, he could not recall her image to his mind while he was awake.

Cam didn't want to mention this to anyone else. He didn't want the others to think that he couldn't handle his own problems. He admitted that it was silly, but it was also the truth. And, for some reason, he didn't _want_ the others to know. It was his secret, not theirs. _They_ all had secrets, so why shouldn't _he_ have one?

_You're being silly,_ a little voice said in Cam's mind.

_Oh, be quiet,_ the green samurai ranger responded. Another reason that he didn't want to tell the others was that they might think that he was ill, and then he would have to go to hospital, something which he wanted to avoid if it was at all possible.

"Excuse me?" a soft voice asked.

Cam glanced up, and saw the little boy who had been the original vampire standing in the doorway of the rec. room. The green samurai ranger gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "You're awake," he said, stating the obvious. "Did you sleep well?"

The boy nodded slowly, and walked over to stand next to Cam's chair. Even though he was no longer a vampire, he was still quite pale. The green samurai ranger wondered if he had originally been kept out of the sun.

"Do you remember anything of what happened to you?" Cam questioned.

"Not really," the boy replied. "I know _something_ happened... But I'm not entirely sure what. I just remember being trapped somewhere and feeling scared." The boy spoke quite frankly, no beating around the bush.

_That's probably for the best,_ Cam thought to himself. _He's still young enough that something like that happening might have scarred him mentally._

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Hunter stared at Lila. _Oh, no,_ he was thinking. _Of all of the people I could possibly fall in love with... Why _Lila

"_Please_ say something," Lila begged. Her nerves were frayed, and she was wondering what on earth Peter was going to say when he found out that she had betrayed their secret.

"What do you want me to say?" Hunter asked. The coldness in his tone surprised even him.

"Don't you believe me?" Lila wanted to know. "I can show you!"

Hunter grabbed her hand before she could move it towards her morpher. "I believe you," he told her. "And I don't know what to say, Lila. This changes a lot. This now makes us enemies. You _do_ realise that, don't you?"

"What... do you mean?" Lila questioned, sudden fear flaring in her eyes.

Hunter let go of her arm and moved his hands towards her shoulders, then shook her a little. "Don't you get it, Lila? I'm the crimson thunder ranger!"

Lila flinched at the pain in Hunter's voice. "But... You _can't_ be!" she protested. "We're supposed to kill..." Horrified, Lila clapped both hands over her mouth. But not before Hunter caught precisely what she was going to say.

The crimson thunder ranger shook her again, hard. "Did Lothor tell you to kill us?!" he yelled. Seeing more than a few people stop to give him odd looks, he lowered his voice again. "You _must_ know that Lothor can't be trusted!"

"I _don't_ know!" Lila protested. "Listen, Hunter. _Please_ listen to me. We thought that this was the only choice we had..."

"_We_?" Hunter's eyes narrowed. "Of course," he said sarcastically. "Peter has to be the other silk ranger. He is, isn't he?" When Lila didn't answer, Hunter shook her even harder. "Tell me!"

Lila flinched, and looked down. "He is," she admitted in a low voice.

Hunter moved his hands. He was angry enough to hit Lila, and that wasn't something he wanted to do. Not when she was unmorphed and not fighting him. But he was furious! He felt like he had been made a complete fool of.

"Hunter, I..." Lila began.

Hunter shook his head, clenching his fists. "Don't talk to me," he ordered, hiding his feelings behind an emotionless mask. "Don't _ever_ talk to me again."

Lila flinched again. "Hunter, please..."

Hunter backhanded Lila hard enough to nearly knock her off the wall. The silver silk ranger made no move to hit him back, but her eyes filled with tears.

"We're enemies now," Hunter told Lila flatly. "You're no longer my friend, let alone my girlfriend. I trusted you, Lila, and you betrayed me." With those words, Hunter stormed off, his hands in his pockets, every movement jerky with anger.

Lila watched him leave, and then finally allowed herself to cry.

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Blake slipped an arm around Tori as they walked along the beach. He smiled softly, thinking about how lucky he was to have a girlfriend like Tori. He was relieved that she had forgiven him for attacking her when he was a vampire. She might claim that it wasn't his fault, but Blake still felt bad about it.

_She's so beautiful,_ Blake thought, looking at Tori out of the corner of his eye, still embarrassed about being caught staring at her. _I love her so much... But what's going to happen when we finally defeat Lothor?_

Blake knew that they _would_ eventually defeat Lothor. He refused to believe that they wouldn't. They _had_ to defeat him. If they didn't, then the whole earth would be lost. And that was something none of them was willing to let happen.

Tori smiled up at Blake, and rested her head on his shoulder. She was glad that Blake was all right now. She could stay like this with him forever.

"Do you want to go have dinner?" Blake asked the blue wind ranger in a soft tone.

Tori nodded, and Blake moved his arm from around her shoulders, but took her hand and led her off.

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Read and review, please!


	30. Chapter Thirty : Tears in the Rain

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Thirty - Tears in the Rain**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Author's Note:** This chapter is _entirely_ too short. It's more of an interlude, detailing how Lila's feeling at the moment, and a couple of conversations that she has. Skip it if you want. I won't mind. It'll just be focusing on Lila, but just for this chapter

**DarkAngel:** -Grumbles- They get the point...

That's why this chapter has a title while the others don't. (Well _you_ try thinking up 30 different titles for one story!)

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** Yeah, Peter's obviously going to react badly. For the moment, the wizard doesn't need to be worried about. Like I said before, he's licking his wounds at the moment. Thanks for reviewing!

**CamFan4Ever:** Well... yes, he did. And I can't tell you what's going on with Cam, as it's supposed to be a big secret... Well, for me, anyway. It would spoil the, er, _rest_ if I told you. Thanks for reviewing!

**Jorgitosbabe:** I didn't either, actually. It was one of those spur-of-the-moment ideas. Thanks for reviewing!

**BlueAngel07:** Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

**jj-monster:** Well, he _is_ mad... He's perfectly justified in slapping Lila. Ok, ok. I _know_ it was kind of out of character... But... -Shrugs- Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

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It was raining.

Lila stared moodily out of the window of the cafe as she waited for someone to come and take her order. She could see the water running down the glass like tears. She'd always wondered if someone somewhere was crying when the rain started. It was like the sky cried with you when you were sad. Of course, when you were happy, it was just nature.

The sky was crying, so Lila didn't have to.

Really, the silver silk ranger felt numb inside, sure that nothing else would be able to hurt her now. Her cheek throbbed from where Hunter had hit her, but the pain in her face was nothing compared to the pain she felt deep inside.

Lila supposed that she should really try and conceal the mark somehow, but she somehow couldn't bring herself to do so. Maybe it was a feeling that she had deserved Hunter striking her. Or, more likely, it was that she didn't care about what other people might think about the mark on her face. She wasn't going to change herself just because what had happened to her might end up annoying someone.

Lila knew that she should really go back home, but she couldn't bear the thought of having to face Peter and admit to him that she had revealed their secret to Hunter, and also that Hunter was, in fact, the crimson thunder ranger. She could always not say anything, but there were two reasons why she couldn't do that. One was that she had no other explanation for the mark on her face, and the other was that Hunter would probably let on that he knew.

_I never should have opened my mouth,_ Lila silently berated herself. _All it's brought me is huge problems._

Why _had_ she told Hunter her and Peter's identity? It was probably that she felt guilty for having to fight him when he was a vampire. But it could have quite easily been the fact that she was sick of keeping secrets. Well, she wasn't keeping secrets anymore.

"Can I get you anything, honey?"

_Oh, no,_ Lila groaned inwardly. It was the same waitress from the other night, after Peter had been turned into a vampire. The one who had noticed the bite marks on her neck, which had, thankfully, now faded mostly.

Lila looked up, and bit her lip slightly as she heard the sharp intake of breath. Then, Sally sat down at the table, and reached out to take the silver silk ranger's hand. "Was it your boyfriend this time?"

Lila saw no reason to lie to Sally, so she merely shrugged. "He broke up with me," she admitted in a low voice. _Always stick to the truth wherever possible._

"And he decided to hurt you?" Sally's tone was indignant. "May I see?" she asked, gesturing towards Lila's face.

Lila fought the urge to point out that Sally was already looking at the bruise, and, instead, merely nodded.

Sally reached out with gentle fingers and pressed lightly on the bruise, checking to see how bad it really was. Lila winced slightly at the pressure, but didn't try to pull away.

"Hm." Sally drew her hand back, a thoughtful and slightly angry look on her face. "It doesn't seem _too_ bad... But it would probably be an idea to ice it." The waitress paused, then asked in a low voice, "Are you going to press charges?"

Lila blinked, and then quickly shook her head. "No... I deserved this," she whispered, her tone hollow.

Sally's expression clearly showed that she didn't believe the silver silk ranger. "Sweetie, I know plenty of men who can make a woman believe that a beating was brought about because of something _she_ did," Sally told Lila. "More often than not, it turns out that the boyfriend is the one who is at fault."

Lila quickly shook her head. "No, it was _definitely_ my fault," she said with certainty. "He only hit me the once, and that was because I provoked him. He's not usually violent. Believe me, if I _hadn't_ deserved it, I would have hit him right back." Lila smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Hm." Sally nodded slowly. "Yes, I can see that you probably would at that. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I told him something that meant that we couldn't be together," Lila answered, and left it at that. She'd already learned her lesson about blabbing her secret out to people. Pity she had learned it too late. "He didn't like it, because of something else, and that was when I provoked him."

"You're leaving out something," Sally commented.

"I _can't_ tell you anymore," Lila said.

"All right, I understand," Sally responded. She stood up again. "I should probably get back to work. Is there anything you'd like to eat or drink?" she questioned.

"Um... I'll have a toasted cheese sandwich and a diet coke," Lila replied.

Sally nodded, and left.

Lila sighed, and looked out of the window. It was still raining, and she still felt like crying. That talk hadn't helped at all. Mainly because Sally couldn't truly understand what she was going through.

When her order arrived, Lila ate and drank in silence. She didn't catch anyone's gaze, and didn't look up until someone's shadow fell across her table.

"Can I sit here?" Faye asked.

The silver silk ranger glanced up, and blinked as she saw Faye. Then, she sighed. "Sure, why not," she muttered.

Faye pulled out a chair and sat down, regarding Lila carefully. The silver silk ranger noticed that the orange light ranger looked tired, as though she hadn't been sleeping very well. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her blonde hair hung limp around her face.

Lila quickly amended her first impression. Faye looked _exhausted_.

"Who did that to you?" Faye asked.

Lila didn't ask what Faye was referring to. She already knew. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Hunter," she replied shortly.

Faye nodded slowly. She didn't ask why. She could probably already guess.

"How's Cally?" Lila asked after a few moments.

"She could be better," Faye admitted. "She's sleeping at the moment. I probably should be as well, but I ran out to get some supplies, and saw you in here, so I thought that I should come in and talk to you."

"You didn't need to," Lila responded quickly. "I'm fine."

"You don't _look_ fine," Faye replied. "You know, you're going to have to decide what's more important to you, Lila. Destroying, or your feelings."

Lila squirmed under Faye's intent gaze. "What... Do you mean?" she questioned.

"You know _exactly_ what I mean," Faye responded. "You're going to have to decide if you want Hunter or not. Because if you leave it for too long, the argument you two have just had is going to fester, and soon forgiveness will be almost impossible."

"What makes you think that Hunter and I had an argument?" Lila wanted to know.

Faye just looked at her.

Lila sighed. "Ok, ok," she muttered. Then, she looked sharply at Faye. "That's what happened with Dustin and Cally, isn't it?"

Faye nodded, and then stood up. "You're going to have to make up your mind," she told Lila. "Don't take into account what your brother thinks you should do. When I made my choice, I stayed with Cally rather than leave her on her own like David has." With those words, the orange light ranger left the cafe.

Lila looked out of the window again.

The rain was starting to look like nature.

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Read and review, please!


	31. Chapter Thirty One

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Thirty-One**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**garnetred:** Probably sooner... Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**CamFan4Ever:** If you _really_ want to know, then I'll e-mail you and tell you... But it _does_ give away much of the storyline. Thanks for reviewing . And she _might_ rebel against Lothor... You'll find out in this chapter

**Jorgitosbabe:** Chooses Hunter? Well, I wouldn't put it quite _that_ way... Hunter doesn't like her a lot at the moment. I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing!

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**Author's Note:** I apologise for being late with this chapter... But it wasn't my fault! I was away for the weekend, and, when I came back, had disabled the log in process and administration things. Wah!

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Cally practiced her fighting moves, ignoring the remnants of tiredness she still felt. No way was she going to leave off training just because she felt tired. If necessary, she could work _through_ the feeling.

It was nighttime, but Cally didn't really care about that. She actually _preferred_ training at night. For some reason, it was easier to clear her mind of all other thoughts when it was dark.

Cally brought her leg up, and swept it round as though there was an opponent facing her. She followed it up with a punch that would have been aimed at her opponent's chest or stomach, depending on the size of them.

After a few minutes of working out, Cally stopped, and brushed the strands of hair that had escaped from her ponytail out of her eyes.

"You know, I thought I might find you here," Faye commented from behind her.

Cally jerked a little, and then sighed. "You're supposed to still be asleep," she muttered.

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought that I should check on you," Faye responded. "I don't particularly want you to have a relapse."

Cally gave a short, bitter laugh. "Is that what my therapist told you to do?" she asked. "That people with suicidal tendencies need to be continually watched?"

"That's not fair, Cally," Faye answered. "I'm worried about you. As much as you try to pretend it's _not_, I know that your depression's as bad as it ever was, if not worse."

"Well, I'm not going to try and kill myself again, if that's what you're worried about," Cally replied, her tone cool.

Faye hit a nearby tree. "Damn it, Cally!" she shouted. "That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

"Don't shout!" Cally retorted in a sharp voice. "Do you want someone to come and see what's going on?"

"Maybe if they _did_, then they'd be able to talk some sense into you," Faye replied. "I mean it, Cally. You're getting _way_ out of control. Since we joined the Light Ninja Academy, you've just been pushing yourself further and further. It's like you just don't care anymore. Like your body's just going through all of the motions, but your mind's elsewhere."

"Now you're saying that I'm mad?"

Faye sighed, and threw her hands up in the air. "Honestly, I don't know what's the point in talking to you anymore," she said. "No wonder Dustin's having trouble forgiving you for what you did if you're acting like this."

Cally froze, her face pale. "You leave Dustin out of this!" she snapped.

Faye paused, her eyes narrowed slightly. _So... Maybe Cally's not so uncaring as she makes out, then,_ the orange light ranger thought to herself. _There's _got_ to be a way of making her care again, but what? Maybe if Dustin were to forgive her... But that's not very likely to happen. And, unless he does, she'll probably _never_ be truly happy._

Cally sighed, and turned away from her friend. "Faye, go away," she told the orange light ranger. "I'm trying to train here."

"How long have you been training for?" Faye wanted to know.

Cally shrugged a little. "Couple of hours," she answered. "It helps me to forget things that are bothering me."

"Yeah, because you're usually so exhausted that you just sleep really deeply, only to wake up at an unearthly hour to train even more," Faye responded. "Cal, how can you expect to fight your depression if you're using up all of your energy to train?"

Cally shrugged.

"Why don't we try meditation again?" Faye suggested. "Or, rather, _you_ try meditating. I'll make sure we're all right."

Cally hesitated, then sighed. "All right." She sat down on the ground with her legs crossed and her arms folded over them, ignoring the soil floor. She closed her eyes, and, almost immediately, slipped into a meditative state.

Faye watched as Cally seemed to be filled up from within by a violet light. And, yes, there it was. The snakelike darkness coiled deep inside the violet light ranger. Faye squinted. Had the darkness gotten bigger? The tentacles of light wrapped around it seemed to be getting fainter, though it was still being held still. But Cally was clearly weakening in her battle against the darkness.

Faye felt a sudden weakness, and looked down at herself.

As before, the orange light ranger was lit up from within by orange light that was being drawn into Cally, where it's colour was changed to violet, and its energy was put into the fight against the depression.

The orange light ranger was able to study what was happening quite closely. It did seem like whenever Cally was in a meditative state, she would draw energy from anything nearby. Faye could see other small strands leading into the violet light ranger's form, and she looked around to see that the trees and grass and flowers were all glowing.

Faye frowned a little to herself. _All the more reason why Cally should stop being so depressed,_ she thought worriedly. _She _can't_ just keep on taking energy from everything around her, even if she doesn't realise what she's doing. She'll soon end up taking too much._ Then, Faye's eyes narrowed as another thought occurred to her. _Could Cam be right? Could this be a form of the catalyst ability? After all, she _is_ taking energy from things around her._

Faye suddenly heard a rustling noise coming from behind her. She jerked a little, and then whirled round. "Oh, great," she sighed when she saw who it was. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Blake shrugged a little. "I decided to come here to train," he answered.

Faye sighed again. "Oh, no, not another one," she muttered.

Blake opened his mouth to say something, then caught sight of Cally, and stared. "What's with her?"

"She's meditating," Faye answered, then blinked as Cally's soul started pulling energy from Blake as well. The energy being taken from her was beginning to make her feel quite weak.

"Does that usually happen while she's mediating?" Blake asked curiously. Apparently, he hadn't noticed the fact that Cally was pulling energy from him to feed the internal battle.

"The light, yes," Faye replied. "The pulling energy from other people, no."

Blake jumped, and looked down at the line of navy light being drawn from him. He then looked at Faye with obvious surprise. "Why is she taking energy from _me_? I'm not a light ninja."

"I don't know," Faye answered. "You'd probably have to ask your friend Cam that. He might know more than me. I wondered if it might be an indication that Cal has the catalyst ability he was going on about." Before the navy thunder ranger could say anything to that, Faye moved forward, and gently shook Cally's shoulder. "Wake up. We've got company."

The violet light ranger blinked, and all of the light suddenly disappeared. Suddenly, the clearing seemed much darker than before, and it took a while for their eyes to get used to the dark.

When he could see reasonably well again, at least well enough not to bang into anything, Blake walked over to Cally and extended a hand. "I wanted to say thanks for helping me out."

Cally blinked up at him. "Huh?"

"He was one of the vampires," Faye explained.

"Oh..." Cally hesitated, and then reached out to lightly clasp Blake's hand.

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"Hunter's the crimson thunder ranger, and I'm _not_ going to harm him, whatever you say," Lila told Peter as she hovered in the doorway of his room.

Peter stared at Lila. "_What_?"

"You heard me," Lila responded. "I don't care what you think, Peter. I love Hunter, and I'm _not_ going to hurt him." _I love him?_

"You're not thinking this through, Lila," Peter told his sister, his voice suddenly cold.

"Oh yes I _have_ thought this through," Lila replied. "We shouldn't trust Lothor, Peter. He's using us to get rid of the other Power Rangers for him, and then he'll have _us_ destroyed as well. He's not going to return our parents to us. He's the one who took them!"

"You have no idea what you're saying!" Peter snapped.

"Yes I do!" Lila said sharply. "You've lost sight of what's really important, Peter. Neither of us are killers. What happens when the price is too great? Our parents aren't harmed at the moment, so why are we trying to kill for them?"

"You've let that crimson thunder ranger bewitch you somehow," Peter growled.

Lila gave a slightly bitter laugh. "Hunter hates me," she said. "I told him who I was, and he went mad at me. He hit me."

Peter's eyes narrowed slightly. "And you _still_ want to let him live?"

"I love him," Lila answered simply.

Peter just sighed, and turned away from his sister to stare at the ceiling of his room. "And you want me to stop as well?"

"Yes," Lila said. "It's the right decision to make, Peter. Surely you can see that? You're not a killer, and neither am I."

Peter just shrugged. Then, he swung himself off his bed, and put his shoes on. "I'm going out for a walk," he said shortly. "I need to think this over."

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Peter and Blake met on the street, and both paused, eyeing each other up. They both knew that each other were Power Rangers, and, at the moment, were both on opposite sides.

Peter didn't really think about it all. He just said, "Silk Ranger Form!" And morphed.

Blake hesitated. He didn't really want to fight the brown silk ranger, but realised that there was no other choice. "Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!" he yelled, and morphed. "Power of thunder!"

Peter attacked without warning, and Blake was only just able to defend himself. The navy thunder ranger found himself driven back by the furious assault, and couldn't actually get to his communicator to contact his brother or any of the other Power Rangers to come and help him.

Finally deciding to fight back, Blake lashed out with his foot, sending Peter reeling back. The navy thunder ranger quickly followed up with a punch to Peter's chest. The brown silk ranger fell to the ground, but not before hooking Blake's legs with his foot, causing the navy thunder ranger to fall as well.

Somehow, Peter got his length of silk around Blake's neck, and wrapped it tight. The navy thunder ranger scrabbled at the material, but it was too tight for him to undo.

Peter straightened, fully intending to just stand there and watch Blake strangle to death. But he found that he couldn't. The brown silk ranger tried turning his back, but that didn't help either. He just felt even worse.

Peter groaned, and then knelt next to Blake, and slowly unwrapped the silk from around the navy thunder ranger's neck. He was expecting to be attacked, but Blake only demorphed and moaned slightly, his hands to his neck.

"Sorry," Peter muttered, also demorphing. He and Blake stared warily at each other, and then, finally, the navy thunder ranger relaxed.

"You couldn't go through with it," he commented.

Peter nodded slowly, wondering just what Blake was getting at, and waiting for the navy thunder ranger to attack him.

"You can't kill someone in cold blood," Blake noted, struggling to his feet. "I take it this means you're now on _our_ side?"

"I guess so," Peter responded, still wondering why Blake hadn't punched him yet.

"You're a good fighter," Blake told Peter, extending a hand which the brown silk ranger took after a moment's hesitation. "It would be good to have you on our team, and it wouldn't do any good to hurt you." Blake grinned.

Peter returned his smile, and relaxed somewhat. "Thank you. I'm sorry."

"No hard feelings."

Peter blinked as a sudden thought occurred to him. "I've got an idea," he said to Blake.

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Read and review, please!

Ok, I apologise to anyone who thinks that this chapter is completely out of character... I kind of had to write it like that


	32. Chapter Thirty Two

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

Hi, I apologise for the delay in updating. I was working on something, and then the other computer had to be taken for cleaning. Sorry!

**Replies to reviews:**

**Jorgitosbabe:** -Is deafened- o.o I'm updating now! Honestly -Nods-. Thanks for reviewing!

**garnetred:** Yeah, I wasn't really sure about that whole scene with Peter and Lila. And Lothor _will_ retaliate... As to whether or not Hunter will forgive Lila, well... -Shrugs- You'll have to wait and see. Thanks for reviewing!

**CamFan4Ever:** Well, now you know . Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you feel better soon. Sometimes writing can help if you're feeling kind of depressed

**jj-monster:** Well, you'll find out now . Thanks for reviewing!

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

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"This isn't going to work," Cally said dully once Peter had gone to carry out his part of the plan, leaving Cally, Faye, Lila, and Blake in Faye and Cally's house.

"Now why would you think that?" Faye asked.

The television was on, but none of the four were watching it. All of them were waiting for Peter to call and let them know that the plan had succeeded.

"Well, think of the plan," Cally responded. "We're relying on Peter to make the other Power Rangers believe that he's killed Blake, and convince my brother that he's on his side." She slowly shook her head. "There are so many things that could go wrong with it."

Lila glanced up at Cally. "My brother is _very_ good at deceiving people," she told the violet light ranger.

Blake shifted slightly uncomfortably. "I don't know why I had to give my morpher to Peter," he complained. "I mean, I _know_ that we couldn't find a way of deactivating it safely... But it still feels like a part of me is missing."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Cally replied. She met Faye's gaze, and the two light rangers exchanged an unspoken message.

Cally had felt like a part of herself was missing for quite a while now.

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Cam looked up as the other Power Rangers entered NinjaOps, and then frowned. "Where's Blake?" he questioned, mainly addressing Hunter and Tori as they were the ones who were more likely to have seen Blake.

However, Hunter and Tori both looked confused, and shrugged, clearly indicating that they had no idea where the navy thunder ranger was.

"Didn't you manage to get hold of him via his communicator?" Shane asked, his expression worried.

Cam slowly shook his head. When the computer had shown their new problem, he had yelled for all of the Power Rangers to come to NinjaOps immediately. Blake hadn't answered, but Cam hadn't thought anything of that. The Power Rangers couldn't always respond if they were in a public place.

Hunter frowned. "That's not like him," the crimson thunder ranger commented.

"Maybe he's, like, doing something that he hasn't, like, told you about?" Dustin suggested.

Everyone just looked at the yellow wind ranger.

"Anyway, Cam, why did you call us here?" Shane asked the green samurai ranger, drawing attention away from Dustin.

"_This_ is why," Cam answered, turning back to his computer. He pressed a couple of buttons, and the screen showed the image of the forest just outside town. "I'm getting some rather odd heat readings from that area," the green samurai ranger explained.

"You want us to check it out?" Tori guessed.

Cam nodded. "It's probably one of Lothor's monsters," he said. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on things."

"Let's morph," Shane said. He looked at the other Power Rangers. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Power of Air!"

"Power of Water!"

"Power of Earth!"

"Power of Thunder!"

Once morphed, the Power Rangers streaked off.

Once they were gone, Cam looked down at his communicator. He considered trying to contact Faye and Cally, but decided against it. There was no need to call them just yet.

If there was a need, then Cam would ask them to come and help.

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The four Power Rangers arrived in the forest, and looked around.

"I don't see anything," Dustin commented.

"Isn't this always how it starts?" Tori pointed out. "We turn up, wonder where the monster is for a few moments, and then it attacks us."

"Yeah, Tori, you're right," Shane replied. He looked around at the three of them. "Everyone keep a look out, ok?" he said. "If you see anything, yell."

High above them, in a tree, a white Power Ranger watched. As the four Power Rangers started to move away, the white ranger pulled a blaster from his belt, and fired at them. None of the blaster shots hit, but they certainly caught the Power Rangers' attention.

"Where did _those_ come from?" Dustin demanded.

"Probably from him." Hunter pointed towards the white Power Ranger, who had leaped down from the tree.

The crimson thunder ranger saw that the white ranger's suit looked quite similar to the suits that the orange and violet Power Rangers wore. But Hunter felt, for some reason, that he'd seen this Power Ranger before, but he couldn't remember where.

"Who are you?" Shane demanded, his hand inching towards his own blaster.

"Your worse nightmare," the white ranger replied, his voice cold.

"Oh, please," Tori said. Under her helmet, she rolled her eyes. "That sounds like a line from a cheap horror movie."

The white ranger didn't answer.

"What do you want?" Shane asked. Actually, he felt that it was probably a dumb question to ask. It was pretty obvious that the white ranger wasn't there to join their side. The fact that he had already fired on them put paid to _that_ notion.

"To destroy you," the white ranger answered. He fired at Shane, but the red wind ranger leaped out of the way.

"There's four of us, and only one of you," Tori pointed out, though she, Hunter, and Dustin backed out of the range of the blaster anyway.

"Yeah, and my brother will be here soon," Hunter added, really hoping that that was true and that Cam would be able to get hold of the navy thunder ranger.

"Actually, he won't," a familiar voice said from behind them.

The four Power Rangers turned, and Hunter's eyes widened beneath his helmet. "Peter?" Actually, the crimson thunder ranger knew that he shouldn't have been that surprised. Lila _had_, after all, told him that she and her brother were the silk rangers.

Then again, why wasn't Lila with her brother?

"Who are you?" the white ranger asked in a flat voice, like he really couldn't care less.

"I'm the brown silk ranger," Peter explained. "My name's Peter. I'm on your side, David. My sister was as well, but she defected." The teenager shrugged a little, his eyes like ice. "Joined the other two light rangers. I have no use for traitors."

_David._ The brown silk ranger had slipped the name so casually into his little speech, Hunter realised. It didn't look like the others had registered that fact.

But that name stirred up the memories Hunter had forgotten.

_Cally was the violet ranger, and Faye was the orange ranger._

Hunter opened his mouth to pass this information on to Dustin, as well as what else he had heard, but Peter interrupted him.

"Your brother's dead," the brown silk ranger told Hunter, as casually as if he were telling the crimson thunder ranger that the sky was blue.

"_What_?" Tori cried, her voice filled with shock.

Hunter went numb inside. _No. I _can't_ lose Blake as well._ "You're lying," he said out loud. "Blake's not dead. He can't die!"

Peter's eyes flashed with amusement. "Oh, but he _is_ dead," he responded, still sounding casual. "I strangled him with my scarf." The brown silk ranger held up something. "This is proof. It's your brother's morpher."

Ignoring Shane's restraining hand, Hunter lunged at Peter, murder in his mind.

The white ranger, David, lashed out with his foot, catching the crimson thunder ranger in the chest and sending him reeling backwards. Then, the white ranger slipped his blaster back into his belt, and drew what looked a little bit like a staff.

"Why don't we play a game?"

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Cally jerked a little as she suddenly heard a thump outside the house. "What was that?!" she cried.

"Probably just someone knocking at the door," Blake responded. He looked curiously at the violet light ranger. "Aren't you going to open it?"

"That didn't _sound_ like a knock," Cally protested.

"Oh, you're just being silly," Faye sighed. "_I'll_ go and open the door, if you're that bothered." Rolling her eyes, the orange light ranger made her way to the front door, and opened it.

Then, she screamed.

Lila and Blake immediately shot up off the sofa, and ran towards the front door, Cally just in front of them.

The tentacled monster that Faye, Cally, and Hunter had fought before was there, framed in the doorway. When Faye had opened the front door, it had wrapped one of its tentacles around her, and thrown her against the wall, leaving her dazed.

Blake started to say the words to trigger his morphing, and then cursed when he remembered that Peter had taken his morpher as proof that he was dead. Could Peter have planned this? Leaving the navy thunder ranger defenceless so that he would be easy picking for this monster?

No, Blake somehow didn't think so. He'd already seen that Peter didn't have it in him to be a cold-blooded murderer. Besides, Peter would never put his own sister in that much danger, although he was going to pretend that he saw her as a traitor.

Cally took a quick note of the situation. There was probably no way that they were going to be able to defeat the tentacled monster using their Power Ranger abilities. Blake didn't have his at the moment, and she, Faye, and Lila wouldn't be able to battle it on their own using their morphing powers.

Cally frowned slightly as a sudden thought occurred to her. In her mind's eye, she saw what looked like different colour pools of energy, each coming from the four people in the house. Without saying how she knew, she knew what she had to do.

Cally _reached_.

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Read and review, please!

Sorry if this is really bad...


	33. Chapter Thirty Three

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**jj-monster:** o.o Sorry. Thanks for reviewing

**Jorgitosbabe:** I'm glad you liked it . Thanks for reviewing

**garnetred:** Well, you'll find that out now . Thanks for reviewing

**CamFan4Ever:** I'm glad you're feeling better . Thanks for reviewing

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

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Blake felt it like a kind of itching inside his mind. He looked down at himself, and saw that his whole body was flooding with a navy light. There was a long stream of it reaching out, and Blake realised that his energy was being pulled to the violet light ranger.

Blake fought the gradual weakening enough to look around. He could see the same thing that was happening to him was happening to Lila and Faye as well.

_It's the catalyst ability that Cam was talking about,_ Blake realised. _Cally obviously has that ability._

The navy thunder ranger could see the dark serpent-like thing inside the violet light ranger, and it seemed to be darker than the last time Blake had seen it. But he wasn't sure if that was because he was feeling extremely weak at that moment or not.

Dark spots started appearing in front of Blake's eyes. He was going to pass out soon. But he _had_ to hold on long enough to see what was happening with the tentacled alien.

The alien hadn't moved much beyond throwing Faye into the wall. The orange light ranger still appeared to be somewhat dazed, though that could be because of the energy being drawn out of her rather than the after-effects of being thrown into a wall.

Blake finally felt the stream of energy being pulled out of him slow to a steady trickle and then stop. The navy thunder ranger nearly collapsed, but held onto the wall beside him as he watched to see what Cally was going to do next.

The violet light ranger now had a large, glowing ball of multicoloured light hovering between her hands. The light seemed to almost be hypnotising the alien as the colour slowly revolved so that the whole ball was violet.

Blake wasn't entirely sure of what happened next, as his body was trying to shut down. What he _was_ sure about was that Cally threw the ball of light at the alien, and there was a huge explosion.

Blake's legs folded under him, and he fell to the ground. Just before he lost consciousness, he saw Cally collapse like a felled tree.

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Hunter jumped out of the way of a lash aimed with Peter's silk at him. The crimson thunder ranger frowned slightly beneath his helmet as the brown silk ranger appeared to stumble a little and almost fall.

_This seems almost _too_ easy,_ Hunter thought to himself. _Peter's acting really... clumsy. Maybe fighting him isn't such a good idea after all?_ Then, Hunter remembered the cold way Peter had announced Blake's death, and pushed all other thoughts aside.

He _was_ going to avenge his brother's death!

Hunter lunged at Peter, drawing his thunder staff and catching the startled brown silk ranger in the shoulder.

Dustin and Hunter were fighting Peter, and Shane and Tori were facing David. Hunter still hadn't managed to communicate the white light ranger's identity to the others. He was pretty sure that none of the others had made that connection. At least, they weren't _acting_ like they knew who David was.

_Should I tell him?_ Hunter wondered, shooting a quick glance at the yellow wind ranger. The crimson thunder ranger knew that Dustin would react strongly to the news in _some_ way, but he didn't know if that would be a good thing or a bad thing.

Hunter took a slight step back as Dustin used his double team attack on Peter, the same attack he had used on Hunter once. The two Dustins somersaulted through the air and caught the brown silk ranger in the chest with their ninja swords before moving one in front and one behind to use their ninja swords to knock him down. Unlike Hunter, Peter didn't use his vanishing trick. But the brown silk ranger had other tricks up his sleeve.

While still on the ground, Peter flicked a glancing blow at Dustin with his piece of silk, sending the yellow wind ranger reeling backwards with a gasp.

Hunter grabbed Dustin and dragged him out of range of the silk. "Dustin, what's wrong?" he hissed.

The yellow wind ranger looked up. "It burns," he whimpered. "That silk burns."

Hunter flashed for a moment on an image of the violet light ranger dangling from a branch of a tree, her legs kicking at the air, clawing at the silk wrapped tightly around her neck.

How on earth had Cally managed to hide the marks which had to have been on her neck afterwards?

Hunter pushed that thought out of his mind. He couldn't think of that now. Revenge was the only thing he cared about at that moment.

"Stay here," Hunter told Dustin in a low voice. Then, he leaped at Peter again, planning to keep the brown silk ranger away from the yellow wind ranger while Dustin recovered.

Tori couldn't concentrate on her inner power of water. She had to be calm to be able to do that, and she wasn't calm. At all.

Blake was dead.

Tori and Shane were fighting with the white light ranger, but just that one thought pounded through the blue wind ranger's head.

She had lost Blake. Forever.

Tori blinked back tears. She couldn't cry now. She couldn't afford any distractions. She had really wanted to fight Peter, the one who had actually killed the only man she had ever loved, but Hunter and Dustin were fighting him.

Tori hoped that they killed him. She hoped that he suffered. She was certain that Hunter felt the same way, and that he would make sure that Peter paid for Blake's murder.

Tori wanted nothing better than to curl up and cry. But she knew that she couldn't. The others were counting on her. She _had_ to help them.

She could cry later.

Tori swung a punch at the white light ranger, and felt mildly surprised when it connected. He was definitely tiring. So far, he'd been able to block most of the blows, though hadn't been able to fight back himself. Tori guessed that he was waiting for her and Shane to tire.

But it looked like the white light ranger was tiring first.

Shane could have used his power over the element of air, but he really wanted to hit someone at that moment. Blake had been a good friend of his, despite the fact that he and Hunter had both tried to destroy the wind rangers a good number of times.

Shane didn't even doubt the fact that the navy thunder ranger was dead. Peter had Blake's morpher, and the only way he could have got that was to kill Blake. Not even the threat of death could have forced the navy thunder ranger to give his morpher up.

The white light ranger caught Shane in the chest with a kick. However, the red wind ranger recovered quickly, and knocked David back with a powerful punch. He would have used his air attack on the white light ranger, but that was a long-range attack, and he couldn't risk accidentally hitting Tori instead.

Peter was knocked flying by a punch from Hunter. He gritted his teeth beneath his helmet, and slowly straightened to his feet, shaking his head slightly, feeling dazed.

_You're _so_ lucky that my sister's in love with you,_ Peter thought to himself as he circled the crimson thunder ranger warily. _I'd pay you back for hitting her... But I promised Lila that I wouldn't._ Then again, even if Peter _had_ been fighting at full strength, Hunter would probably have beaten him anyway. Quite simply, the crimson thunder ranger was that much stronger than the brown silk ranger.

To be honest, Peter wasn't entirely sure where his plan had originally come from. He just knew that he couldn't let Lothor know that both he and his sister had switched sides. What better way to do that than to let Lothor and the other Power Rangers believe that he had killed Blake?

Of course, the navy thunder ranger hadn't wanted to give up his morpher to Peter. Blake had pointed out the fact that it was probably a trick of Peter's to defeat the other Power Rangers. But Peter had made contact with his sister and the two light rangers, and, because Blake trusted Faye and Cally, at least a little, he had agreed to remain with them while Peter carried out his plan.

At some point, Peter would use his communicator to call Faye, Lila, Cally, and Blake. He would try to get Cally's communicator, simply because there was no way he could call his sister without Lothor, David, or Zurgane becoming suspicious. Peter was planning to call the others if it started to look like Hunter was going to kill him.

Dustin was about to attack Peter again when he happened to glance over in the direction of Shane, Tori, and the white light ranger.

The yellow wind ranger's eyes narrowed beneath his helmet. Something about the way the white light ranger fought seemed familiar to him...

A memory flashed through Dustin's mind. Of watching David, Cally's slightly older brother, take part in a martial arts tournament while Dustin had still been dating Cally.

Past and present collided as Dustin watched the white light ranger use the exact same trick David had used during the martial arts tournament.

The white light ranger took a kick from Shane in the chest. Then, he spun _into_ the red wind ranger, rather than away from him. Before Shane could react, the white light ranger chopped at his shoulder with his gloved hand.

_David was the white light ranger._

Shane buckled slightly under the blow, but he didn't fall. He darted back from the white light ranger. "Tor, get out of the way!" he yelled.

Startled, the blue wind ranger threw herself to the side just as Shane used his air attack, sending the white light ranger, no, _David_, heavily to the ground.

"David!" Dustin yelled. It didn't occur to him to wait until the white light ranger was relatively harmless before revealing his identity to the other Power Rangers.

Dustin's shout drew the other Power Rangers' attention towards him, and David seized his chance.

The white light ranger grabbed his blaster out of his belt, and leaped at Tori. He looped one arm around the blue wind ranger, and held his blaster against the side of her head.

"Tori!" Dustin yelled, horrified.

David was breathing hard, but the hand holding the blaster to Tori's head remained steady and didn't waver at all. His other arm was wrapped around Tori's body, effectively stopping her from being able to pull free from him at all.

Peter cursed inwardly at what had just happened. He should have realised that David would find a way to turn the fight in his favour. Cally had warned him of the ruthless streak that existed in her brother even before David had changed somehow. Peter knew that he should have listened to the violet light ranger.

The brown silk ranger's fingers edged towards his communicator, and he pressed the buttons on it which would let out the pitched sound that Cally's communicator alone would pick up.

"Put your weapons away, or I'll shoot her," David ordered, his tone frighteningly emotionless.

Shane hesitated. The others knew that he was trying to work out if he could get to the white light ranger before he had a chance to pull the trigger.

David turned his helmeted head towards the red wind ranger, and his grip on Tori tightened, causing a small squeak to escape from the blue wind ranger. "Don't try it," the white light ranger told Shane in a deadly quiet tone. "I could shoot her even before you started moving towards me."

_Why aren't they coming?_ Peter thought, feeling scared. _Being able to streak, they should be here by now!_

But, for whatever reason, Faye, Lila, Cally, and Blake weren't coming.

Beneath his helmet, Peter narrowed his eyes slightly. Could something have happened to the other four Power Rangers? None of them had their full team with them, and Blake being unable to morph was a severe handicap.

Peter still kept on pressing the buttons on his communicator in the hope that the four were just being slow to respond for some reason. But it was a very faint hope.

At just that moment, Zurgane appeared. And he was carrying a strange device.

David shoved Tori away from him. But, before the other rangers could react, Zurgane froze them with a beam.

"_I'll_ take it from here," Zurgane told Peter and David, his distaste for the two rangers clear in his tone.

"I think not," David responded in a flat tone. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Erase their memories, Zurgane. And don't take all day doing it.

"Insolent upstart," Zurgane muttered. But he had no choice but to do what Lothor had ordered him to.

_This is more serious than I thought,_ Peter thought to himself.

Why weren't the others showing up?

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The incessant beeping intruded on Blake's awareness slowly. The navy thunder ranger groaned and tried to ignore the sound in favour of sleeping.

But the beeping didn't stop.

Very slowly, Blake came to. And then, he wished that he hadn't.

Every muscle screamed with pain. Even the slightest movement caused waves of pain and dizziness. The navy thunder ranger just wanted to curl up and go back to sleep again, but the beeping wasn't quieting.

With a tremendous effort, Blake lifted his head. He fought down the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. Now was _not_ the time to be sick.

Blake caught sight of the bodies of Faye, Lila, and Cally crumpled on the floor, and he groaned as memories of what had happened earlier came flooding back.

Surprisingly, the house was still standing. Apparently, the explosion that Cally had made with the combined energy of her, Blake, Lila, and Faye had only obliterated the tentacled monster. Well, it _had_ to have been obliterated. Blake couldn't see any sign of it anywhere.

Now_ I know just how serious Cam was when he warned us about the dangers of the catalyst ability,_ Blake thought to himself. With every moment that passed, his mind grew clearer, though he was still extremely exhausted. But he knew that the beeping was actually coming from a communicator.

Blake reached for his morpher, but it wasn't there. Then, he remembered. He had lent it to Peter, hadn't he?

It was Cally's communicator which was going off.

Suddenly, it stopped.

Blake pulled himself into a crouching position, then put his head in his hands. It _hurt_.

After a few moments, when the pain faded somewhat, Blake crawled over to Cally. He reached out, and shook the violet light ranger, not very gently.

Cally's eyes flew open, and then she winced, a gasp escaping her lips.

Ignoring the violet light ranger's winces and gasps of pain, Blake pulled Cally to her feet, holding onto her for his support as much as her own. He knew that Hunter was in danger. He couldn't say _how_ he knew, but he knew. And that meant that the others were in danger as well.

_Tori._

Cally whimpered, and tried to pull away from Blake, clearly just wanting to collapse in a heap again.

"Stop it!" Blake snapped at Cally. "I need you to be awake." The navy thunder ranger shot a quick glance at Faye and Lila, but decided to just let them rest. He wasn't sure he was up to dealing with three reluctant females.

"I _can't_," Cally responded.

"Yes, you can!" Blake told her in a sharp tone. "The others are in danger. I need your help to save them."

The violet light ranger shook her head, then flinched at the pain that flooded her mind. "I can't," she repeated. "You don't understand... I can't even morph. I don't have enough energy."

"I don't care," Blake responded heartlessly. "I don't want my brother or my girlfriend to get hurt..." The navy thunder ranger's voice trailed off as he saw that Cally wasn't really listening to him. He searched his mind for something that would make the violet light ranger take notice of him. Then, he had it. "Do you want Dustin to end up dead?" he demanded.

Cally stared at him, as shocked as if he had just slapped her. "_What_?!"

"Dustin is the yellow wind ranger," Blake explained. "I can guess that you probably still love him... So you _will_ help me because, by doing so, you will probably save Dustin."

Cally continued to stare at him. But then, her communicator went off. She half-turned away from Blake, and spoke into it. "Hello?"

"Cally, it's Cam," the green samurai ranger's voice said. "I thought that I'd better contact you. Zurgane's got the other Power Rangers, and David and Peter are with him. I think that they've just used a mind warp on them." Cam paused, then continued, "You should also know that Peter has killed Blake."

Blake and Cally exchanged glances. Then, Cally spoke into her communicator again. "I'll be on my way, Cam. Any idea of how we can save them?"

"You might want to try smashing the energy centre," Cam replied, his tone dubious.

"All right," Cally responded. "I'm on my way."

Blake and Cally streaked off.

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The navy thunder ranger and the violet light ranger appeared just inside the forest, where Zurgane, Peter, and David had taken the now-changed Power Rangers.

The first they knew of it was when they were attacked - Blake by Hunter and Tori and Cally by Shane and Dustin. The four Power Rangers were morphed.

The fact that Blake and Cally were still weak meant that they weren't fighting at their best. Then, of course, they didn't want to seriously harm the Power Rangers.

Blake attempted to weakly block a blow from Hunter's thunder staff, but the staff easily smashed through his block, and Blake got hit across his chest.

"Hunter, it's me," Blake pleaded, trying to get through to his brother. "You're my brother!"

"No, I am not," Hunter responded flatly.

"Tori, don't you remember me at all?" Blake asked the blue wind ranger desperately.

"I've never seen you before in my life," Tori responded, just as flatly as Hunter.

After a few more moments of attempting to fight Shane and Dustin, Cally half-turned. "David, I know you're there!" she yelled. "Come out and fight me!"

There was a moment's hesitation, and then, the white light ranger stepped out from between the trees, his face unmasked. He was closely followed by Peter.

David glared at his sister. "You deserve to die for what you did to Dustin!" he snarled.

Shane and Dustin had paused in attacking Cally, and now were standing to one side, apparently waiting for orders.

"_That's_ Dustin!" Cally gestured towards the yellow wind ranger.

"You're lying!" David snapped.

"Blake, catch!" Peter threw something end over end at the navy thunder ranger.

It was Blake's morpher.

The navy thunder ranger grabbed his morpher out of the air, and strapped it onto his wrist. He paused a moment before triggering the morphing.

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!"

Blake morphed.

"Power of Thunder!"

Instantly, Blake felt a wave of intense weakness, and he almost fell.

Cally hesitated, then triggered her own morph.

"Light Storm, Ranger Form!"

Cally morphed.

"Power of Light!"

Almost instantly, the two light rangers leaped at each other, and started fighting.

As brother and sister, the two would have been practically evenly matched. But the fact that Cally was weakened greatly meant that she couldn't fight properly, and ended up letting a lot of blows through her guard that she wouldn't have ordinarily.

Blake suddenly spotted Zurgane and the energy centre a short distance away.

The navy thunder ranger hesitated, then grabbed for his brother's blaster. Before Hunter could react, the navy thunder ranger aimed the blaster at the energy centre, and fired.

The energy centre shattered.

Zurgane cursed, and then teleported away, presumably to Lothor's ship.

Blake demorphed, and grabbed onto a tree for support. He was horribly exhausted.

Cally felt herself weakening as she also demorphed, but more because she didn't have the energy to remain in her Power Ranger form than because she made a conscious decision to demorph.

Cally looked into her brother's shocked dark eyes, and then lost consciousness.

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Read and review, please!

I know... It wasn't very good, was it? -Cringes a little- The good news is that there's only one more chapter to go -Waits for the cheers that are bound to follow that statement-


	34. Chapter Thirty Four

**Roses and Thorns**

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** Well, you'll find out in this last chapter . Thanks a lot for reviewing

**Jorgitosbabe:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it. Here's the last chapter

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**CamFan4Ever:** I am now . Thanks for reviewing!

**Author's Note:** Whew! Final chapter! Possibly the first multi-chapter fan fiction story I've ever completed. At this moment, I'd like to thank everyone who's read and reviewed this story. Your support has been great, especially at the times when I've just felt like giving up completely on this fic and deleting it. Also, Ericka, thanks for all your help with suggesting things to me, and also putting my characters through the Mary Sue Litmus test.

Thanks so much everyone! You're all really great! -Hugs everyone-

On with the final chapter!

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Cally's eyes flickered open, and she looked around, blinking.

That was odd. What was she doing at home, in her bed? She'd passed out in that forest, hadn't she?

Cally thought hard, but could remember nothing past demorphing because she had virtually no energy left. _Something_ had happened while she was fighting David, but she had no idea what. Her mind was a complete blank after that point.

Cally felt sick, and her head was pounding like someone was banging on the inside of it with a hammer. She knew that she should probably get up, but she really didn't feel up to it.

_Where are David and Faye?_ Cally wondered. If Faye was in the house, then the violet light ranger would probably hear her moving around, unless, of course, she was just as exhausted as Cally.

With a soft groan, Cally pushed herself up. She felt awful, but she didn't want to lie around in bed all day. Maybe she would feel better once she had something to eat or drink? Even though that was one of the last things she really felt like doing.

When she had finally managed to force her protesting body into a more or less standing position, Cally had a shower.

The warm water cascading over the violet light ranger did wonders for her aching body. Cally closed her eyes and lifted her head, feeling the water run down her face and body, cleansing her skin.

Finally, and with some reluctance, Cally stepped out of the shower. She wrapped a towel around herself, and then set about drying her hair. Then, she got dressed, and went downstairs to make some coffee.

While she was making a cup of coffee, the doorbell rang.

_Oh, no,_ Cally thought silently. _Of all the times for someone to call round..._ The violet light ranger half-considered just leaving the door, pretending that she wasn't in.

The doorbell continued ringing, and the sound knifed through Cally's head, making it feel even worse. She fought down waves of nausea.

_Guess I'd better go and answer it,_ Cally thought to herself. It was obvious that whoever was ringing the doorbell wasn't going to go away.

Cally switched the kettle off, walked to the front door, and opened it.

Dustin was standing there.

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Faye's eyes fluttered open, and she stared around the small room she was in with confusion.

Where was she? Certainly not at home. She'd recognise the house she shared with Cally.

The room looked vaguely familiar to the orange light ranger, but it wasn't until she blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes that she finally realised where she was.

_The rec. room in NinjaOps!_

Faye began to panic. Where was Cally? What had happened to her friend after the tentacled monster had appeared? Had she been hurt badly?

Faye had a vague recollection of energy being drawn out of her, and then collapsing. But she had no idea how she had then ended up in NinjaOps. Someone must have brought her here, but who? Cally? Blake?

It hadn't been Lila, because the silver silk ranger was lying on another mattress. She had been asleep, but, as Faye watched her, she stirred and sat up, then put a hand to her head, probably feeling the same twinges of the same headache that had been there when Faye had woken up, but had quickly faded.

Lila glanced over at Faye, and tried to smile, but it was quite a poor attempt. "Do you know where we are?" she asked softly.

Faye nodded slowly. "We're in NinjaOps," she answered. "You know, the headquarters of the other Power Rangers? I'm guessing we were brought here, because we were originally at my house."

Lila nodded, then glanced around the rec. room. "Is everyone else in the other room?" she wanted to know.

"I don't know," Faye replied. "I would assume so... This is the room where Cally was while Cam and I were watching her dreams."

Lila looked down at that reminder. "I'm sorry about that," she mumbled. "Peter and I weren't trying to hurt her permanently... Just put her out of commission for a while."

"I know," Faye responded with a smile. "I'm pretty sure that Cally doesn't hold anything against you or your brother." The orange light ranger stood up, ignoring the momentary feeling of dizziness. "Come on. Let's go and see if the others are actually in the other room.

Hunter, Cam, Blake, David, Peter, Dustin, Shane, and Tori, as well as Shane, were all in the main room of NinjaOps, meaning that space was quite tight. David, Cam, and Peter looked up as Faye and Lila entered, but the others were all deep in conversation, and didn't seem to notice the entrance of the two female Power Rangers.

Faye smiled brightly at David, and waved to him. The white light ranger looked away, but not before Faye caught the glimpse of guilt in his eyes.

Faye walked over to the green samurai ranger, aware of the fact that Lila was trailing after her. "Hi," she smiled.

"Hey," Cam responded. "How are you feeling? Any after effects?"

"After effects to what?" Lila wanted to know, blinking a little.

"He's talking about when Cally went all catalyst and pulled all of the energy out of us," Blake told Lila and Faye as the other Power Rangers realised that they were.

_Oh, wow,_ Faye thought to herself. _So Cal _does_ have that ability. I thought that she might, after what happened when she was meditating. But I never thought that it would develop as fast as _that Out loud, Faye asked the navy thunder ranger, "Did _you_ collapse as well?"

"For a while," Blake answered. "I got woken up when Cally's morpher went off."

"Did everything go according to plan?" Lila questioned her brother.

"You had a plan?" That was Shane. "We thought that you'd _really_ joined forces with David to destroy us."

"That was sort of the idea."

Neither Hunter or Dustin looked very happy, each for slightly different reasons.

"What is the matter?" Sensei asked the crimson thunder ranger and the yellow wind ranger, but he had probably already at least _guessed_ the reason or reasons.

"I think I know why Dustin's upset." David spoke in a soft tone, scuffing his foot and finding the ground _very_ interesting to look at. "It's because Cally, Faye, and I are the light Power Rangers... Isn't it?" David looked up at Dustin as he said that.

"I'm not _that_ shallow," Dustin protested. His voice wasn't warm, but it wasn't really cold, either.

David lifted his shoulders in a light shrug, then turned to Faye. "I took Cally home," he said. "Blake told me where you and she live."

"Do you remember anything of what happened?" Faye wanted to know, feeling glad that David hadn't said that Cally was hurt seriously or anything like that. She had probably just needed quite a bit of rest.

"Bits and pieces," David answered. "The only thing I remember with any true clarity is walking out of that cave and leaving you and Cally behind."

"Sensei, how many different ninja academies _are_ there?" Tori asked.

"Not as many as you might think," the guinea pig told the blue wind ranger. "But also more than you might think."

"Sensei, that makes no sense," Shane said.

"It's probably on a need to know basis," Hunter muttered.

_It's kind of crowded in here,_ Cam thought, looking around at all of the other Power Rangers in NinjaOps. _We might need to try and find a bigger base, or, at the very least, have really important meetings in a bigger place._

"Dustin, I think that you should go and talk to Cally," Faye said to the yellow wind ranger, suddenly thinking of that. "I think that if you two talk, then it'll clear the air between you guys." _And maybe Cally won't be as quick to let herself be killed,_ the orange light ranger added silently to herself.

"But..." Dustin began. He looked at Tori for help.

"Dustin, it's a decision that _you_ have to make for yourself," Tori told the yellow wind ranger, not unkindly. "Personally, I think that maybe you should at least _try_ talking to her... See if she really _is_ sorry for what she did. You don't have to commit yourself to anything, just hear her out and see what she has to say."

"I think Tor's right," Shane put in. "It looks like we'll be working with the light Power Rangers and the silk Power Rangers, so we need to try and clear the air with any problems."

"Don't you just love being talked about as though you're not there?" Peter asked Faye.

The orange light ranger giggled a little, and then looked at David, who wasn't looking at her. His eyes were fastened on the ground, and Faye got the feeling that he wasn't feeling very happy, which she felt wasn't very surprising. She knew that she should talk to him about it, but she didn't want to force him to air out his problems in front of all of the other Power Rangers. It wouldn't be fair.

"All right," Dustin sighed. "I guess you're right. I'll go talk to Cally." He then looked at Faye. "But I'm not promising to forgive her, or even take her back."

Faye nodded. "I know," she said.

Dustin left.

"Lila, can I talk to you?" Hunter asked the silver silk ranger, his voice cool.

"Um, yeah, sure," Lila responded. She and Hunter also left NinjaOps.

"I think _we_ need to talk," Faye said to David. She took the white light ranger's arm, and gently steered him outside.

"Tor?" Blake asked softly, tentatively. The blue wind ranger hadn't really spoken to him since the spell had been broken on her and the others, and he didn't want her mad at him or upset with him. "Do you want to talk?"

"Sure," Tori sighed.

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As soon as Tori and Blake got outside NinjaOps. Blake turned to Tori. "Tor, I'm sorry about what happened," he said. "The plan that Peter came up with depended on you, Hunter, Shane, and Dustin believing that I was _really_ dead."

"I guess I can understand that," Tori admitted. "But, Blake, it ripped me apart inside when I thought that you were dead. I didn't realise it could hurt that much..." Tori's voice trailed off, and she shrugged, her eyes filled with pain.

"Oh, Tori, I'm _so_ sorry," Blake gently enfolded the blue wind ranger in his arms, relieved when she didn't try to push him away. "If there'd been any chance at all to spare you that pain..." Blake knew that Hunter must have gone through something very similar to what Tori had felt, but when he tried talking to his brother about it, the crimson thunder ranger had just shrugged it off. He'd never really been able to be open about his true feelings.

Tori rested her head on Blake's shoulder, happy to just be with him. She was more happy than she could say to find that the navy thunder ranger was alive and well. She had been _so_ terrified when she had thought he had lost him forever.

_I wonder if Cally felt like that when Dustin broke up with her?_

Tori frowned a little, and shook her head slightly to clear that thought away. Not that she was really being selfish... But, right now, she just wanted to think about this moment with Blake, and nothing else.

"I love you," Blake whispered in Tori's ear.

"I love you too," the blue wind ranger responded, raising her head. Their lips met in a gentle kiss which quickly grew in passion.

And, soon, neither worried about anything else.

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Hunter led Lila quite a way from NinjaOps before he turned to her. He wanted to be angry with her for deceiving him like she had... But he was more upset than mad, and he had no idea why. Maybe because he felt that the silver silk ranger had betrayed him.

Before the crimson thunder ranger could say anything, Lila spoke. "Hunter, I'm sorry for keeping my identity as a Power Ranger secret from you," she said. "And I'm really sorry that Peter and I attacked you and the others... But I swear that I never guessed that you were the crimson thunder ranger until you told me."

Looking into the silver silk ranger's eyes, Hunter could see that Lila was sincere. "What about your parents?" he asked.

_Peter must have told him why we were helping Lothor while I was out,_ Lila realised. Out loud, she answered, "Peter and I got the impression that... Lothor _needs_ the energy from the other ninjas, for some reason or another. I believe that our parents will be safe, at least for the moment... But Lothor will stop at nothing to make us pay for joining your side."

"Have you really, truly, joined our side?" Hunter's expression was unreadable.

Lila looked down, and nodded. "Even though it's hard for you to believe," she muttered. Not that she could blame Hunter. Why should he trust her and her brother at all?

"Lila, look at me."

Lila looked up, and met the crimson thunder ranger's steady gaze. Hunter looked tired, but not really angry at her, more resigned. She trembled a little. Sadness was much harder to deal with than anger. And she had the feeling that she wasn't going to like what the crimson thunder ranger was about to say.

"Lila..." Hunter began. Then, he stopped, and slowly shook his head. "This is kind of hard to say... And I don't want you to take it the wrong way."

_He's going to break up with me,_ Lila realised, feeling cold.

_You had already broken up, when you told him that you were the silver silk ranger,_ the cold, unfeeling part of Lila responded.

"Lila, I want you to know that I care about you a great deal," Hunter was saying. "That's never going to change... But I feel like you betrayed me, and that's hard to deal with." He paused, then continued, "I don't think we should see each other any more. In a dating way, I mean. I need time to work out how I really feel, and that could take a while."

Lila felt her heart break into a million pieces, but she tried to smile, though it was likely a poor attempt. "Just friends... Right?"

Hunter hesitated. "For the time being," he replied at last. "It's not like I'm planning on seeing any other people or anything. I just need time."

Lila nodded slowly. "I understand," she whispered. "And I can wait."

_Just friends, and nothing more._

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Faye came to a halt when she and David were in the forest.

The white light ranger glanced around. "We've come quite a ways from NinjaOps," he said flatly.

"I didn't want to run into any of the others," Faye responded. "I guess today must be a day for deep, meaningful conversations or something."

David laughed a little, like Faye had caught him by surprise or something. He seemed rather on edge.

"David, what's wrong?" Faye looked worriedly at her boyfriend.

"A lot of things," David sighed. "But I guess the core of it lies in what I did... Faye, I should never have walked out on you and Cal, _or_ given you an ultimatum. I don't even know why I did. I would never have abandoned my own sister and girlfriend before, and why should that just suddenly change when you two needed me most?"

The orange light ranger frowned a little. "What about Cally two-timing Dustin?" she asked.

"It was one kiss," David argued. "Sure, it was a pretty bad mistake to make... But it's not like everyone's perfect. I don't even know why I kept on treating her so badly after we left Blue Bay Harbour. It was like I was out of control."

Faye blinked at that. "Do you think that Lothor's attempt to control you started quite early on?" she asked.

"Maybe after he captured the other ninja schools," David answered. Then, the white light ranger shook his head. "What do you mean, attempt? Lothor _did_ succeed... And I couldn't stop him."

_And that's where the _real_ problem lies,_ Faye thought to herself. _David feels guilty, like he should have been able to fight the control._ Out loud, the orange light ranger said, "David, I don't think _anyone_ would have been able to fight the control. It would have been so well done that you would have believed that the thoughts were your own."

"I guess you're right," David said with a sigh. "But, Faye, that doesn't make me feel any less guilty about it."

"I know," Faye replied. "But maybe in time you will be able to." _And maybe Cally will be able to as well with time,_ the orange light ranger added silently.

"Faye, there's something I should tell you," David said slowly. "When Cally was fighting me... She was fighting like she actually had something to lose."

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"Do you want to come in?" Cally asked after a few moments. _I am _such_ a bad hostess,_ she thought to herself.

Dustin nodded. "We can't really talk while I'm standing on the doorstep." His tone was mild, not scolding.

"Sorry," Cally muttered. She stepped back so that Dustin could walk into the house, then shut the door gently. "Can I get you a drink or anything?"

"Water would be fine," Dustin answered, moving into the living room and sprawling out on the sofa.

"Sure," Cally responded. She walked into the kitchen and poured a glass of water out, then finished making her cup of coffee. She then carried both into the living room, and set the glass of water in front of Dustin before seating herself in the chair opposite him.

_What's he doing here?_ Cally wondered. _Did Faye tell him to come here?_

"I think we need to talk," Dustin said after taking a few sips of his water. Then, he made a slight face. "Well, _Faye_ thinks we need to talk... And I sort of agree with her."

Cally bit her lip slightly. "Dustin, I can't tell you how sorry I am about what I did," she said. "I'm not expecting you to forgive me, because I don't think I deserve forgiveness... I don't even have a reason for what I did. But I've been regretting it for ages, ever since we broke up."

"Enough to try and kill yourself?" Dustin gestured towards the violet light ranger's wrists.

Cally looked down at her wrists, then shrugged. "I didn't want to live anymore," she said. It didn't matter who had told him of her attempted suicide. While she had been fighting David, she had realised that she didn't want to die, and so she had not taken the chances that she would ordinarily have.

"You tried to kill yourself because I broke up with you." Dustin's face, for once, was completely unreadable.

Cally made a slight face. "Yeah, it seems odd, I know," she replied. "It's not like I'm someone obsessed with you, not able to let go or anything, but..." Cally shrugged. "I didn't want to live without you... Because I love you, and I never realised how much I loved you until I lost you." The violet light ranger looked down, embarrassed at her own words.

"Do you still want to kill yourself?" Dustin asked after a moment.

Still looking down, Cally slowly shook her head.

"Good. Because I forgive you, and I want to start over." Dustin hardly knew why he was saying those words. He hadn't intended to forgive the violet light ranger... But he still loved her, very deeply.

Cally raised her head, her eyes wide with shock. "What did you say?" she asked incredulously.

Instead of repeating what he'd just said, the yellow wind ranger leaned forward, and brushed his lips against hers. It started off as a gentle kiss, but he soon deepened it.

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Wow, it's over! Finally!

Was it a bit rushed? It seemed to be, at least to me... How were the scenes between the different characters? Realistic or not?

Anyways, I have some plans for a sequel to this. (CamFan4Ever, you know some of it .) Would anyone like to see the sequel?

Read and review, please!


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